Things to do in Port Vila
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Port Vila
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season and best months: 20 to 27 degrees, lower humidity, calmest seas, best diving visibility and boat reliability.
Shoulder sweet spot as dry weather starts and Pentecost land diving season opens, with September to October also thinner in crowds.
Worst months: wet cyclone season with heavy downpours, disrupted boats and flights, and genuine cyclone risk.
Frayed edge of the wet season: workable with flexible plans, solid insurance and a close eye on the forecast.
What's on
- Pentecost Land Diving (Nagol) April to June, mainly Saturdays
Dates follow the yam season and move each year, so confirm your exact week: men dive from a vine tower on Pentecost Island.
- Independence week Children's Day 24 July, Independence Day 30 July
A week of string bands, custom dancing, canoe races and parades centred on Port Vila: book everything early.
- Fest'Napuan Late October to early November, 3 to 4 days
Free outdoor music festival at Saralana with Ni-Vanuatu and Pacific reggae, string bands and fusion.
- Custom Chief's Day 5 March
National day for chiefs and kastom, with village ceremonies if a local guide can take you respectfully.
- Toka Festival Every 3 to 4 years, chief declared
Irregular Tanna festival that cannot be planned around, but worth attending if dates coincide and a guide can take you.
- Weekly fire shows and Ekasup feast Fridays and Saturdays year round
Friday brings the Ekasup feast and Beach Bar fire show, Saturday the Banyan fire show, as a recurring weekly calendar.
Best things to do in Port Vila
Blue Lagoon
Electric turquoise spring-fed swimming hole with rope swings and fig trees, best early or late in the day.
Port Vila Market
Covered market run by mamas selling island produce and cooked plates, the best orientation stop in town.
Haos Blong Handikraft
Vetted waterfront market for carvings, woven baskets and shell jewellery made by artisans across Vanuatu.
Vanuatu National Museum & Cultural Centre
Small museum where demonstrators explain tamtam, Lapita archaeology and UNESCO listed sand drawing.
Ekasup Cultural Village
Community run village tour and Friday night feast with dance, kava tasting and an excellent string band.
Hideaway Island
Tiny marine sanctuary island with snorkelling straight off the beach over coral and reef fish.
Underwater Post Office
The world's only official underwater post office, where you snorkel down to post a waterproof postcard.
Kava Lounge
Approachable first nakamal for a dusk shell of kava, recommended locally as a starter for visitors.
Where to stay in Port Vila
Erakor Lagoon / Pango Road
first trip, best overall base
Calm lagoon water, good restaurants nearby and town five to ten minutes away, with every price tier side by side.
Fatumaru Bay / Seafront edge of town
short stays and town access
Walk to the market, museum and waterfront cafes, with the Iririki ferry at your doorstep and dinner on foot.
Eratap / White Sands
a resort stay, not a town stay
Private white sand beaches, house reef snorkelling and silence, in exchange for a bumpy 20 to 45 minute ride to town.
Mele Bay
divers, golfers and families who want space
Hideaway ferry, Beach Bar, golf club and zipline within minutes, best with a car for town dinners.
Think twice about
- Downtown CBD as a hotel base
A small commercial core that empties at night with no beach, still visibly in earthquake recovery with repairs and construction ongoing.
- Isolated properties on the ring road with no shuttle and no car
Thirty to forty minutes out on potholed roads with no restaurant in walking distance, so every meal and swim becomes a negotiated taxi.
Best restaurants in Port Vila
Kai Vanua
Authentic Ni-Vanuatu cooking of island greens, yam, taro and local fish, among the cheapest proper meals.
Port Vila Market
Mama stalls at the market serving rice plates, grilled fish, tuluk and lap-lap, the best cheap lunch.
Coco & Co
Everyday cafe for proper coffee, poke bowls, tuna sashimi, wraps and salads, open early with air con.
Cafe Vila
The one polished dinner in town, with generous portions, fresh local flavours and family style service.
Three Pigs
Modern pub food done current, with tacos, proper burgers, wood fired pizza and good vegetarian options.
Stonegrill
Vanuatu grass fed beef served searing on a hot stone to cook at your table, with a harbour view.
Banyan Beach Bar
Beach bar for wood fired pizza, day beds and cold drinks at sunset, staying on for the fire show.
L'Houstalet
Longstanding French institution serving classics plus local lobster and poulet fish since condominium days.
Outdoor things to do in Port Vila
Port Vila Golf & Country Club
Vanuatu's only 18 hole course, flat and walkable beside Mele Bay with clubhouse views over the water.
Vanuatu Jungle Zipline
Six ziplines and a skybridge across the Summit canyon, with an optional canyon swing and harbour views.
Big Blue Vanuatu
PADI dive centre divers recommend for harbour wrecks, coral walls, Cathedral cave and try dives.
Lelepa Island
Community run island day with aquarium clear snorkelling, kayaking, a BBQ lunch and a village visit.
Pele Island
Quieter outer island day with marine reserve snorkelling, a village visit and a beach BBQ.
Nguna Island
Village run island day with a volcano walk, turtle conservation and simple bungalows for an overnight.
Vanuatu Ecotours
Small group operator for Rentapao River kayaking and bush walks led by Ni-Vanuatu guides since 2006.
Lololima Falls
Canyon trek through pools and cascades with Vanuatu Ecotours, needing shoes with grip you can get wet.
Best hotels in Port Vila
Eratap Beach Resort
Luxury resort on its own peninsula with plunge pool villas, a standout restaurant and a town shuttle.
Tamanu on the Beach
Private white sand beach resort with plunge pool villas, a spa and a lagoon style pool.
Paradise Cove Resort
Small luxury hideaway of villas in tropical gardens, valued for quiet, a house reef and its restaurant.
Warwick Le Lagon
Big full service lagoon resort with multiple pools, restaurants and kids facilities, predictable for families.
Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu
International brand resort in lagoon gardens with villas and a good pool scene, run with local warmth.
Nasama Resort
Self contained lagoon apartments home to Cafe Vila and Three Pigs, popular with repeat visitors.
Breakas Beach Resort
Adults only beachfront fares with an infinity pool, a house reef and a calm, couple leaning feel.
Mangoes Resort
Adults only hillside resort with lush gardens, a good restaurant and quiet a short ride from everything.
Is Port Vila expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | VUV 10,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | VUV 30,000 a person |
| Splurge | VUV 70,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ekasup Cultural Village: a few days ahead
- Port Vila Golf & Country Club: a few days ahead
- Vanuatu Jungle Zipline: a few days ahead
- Big Blue Vanuatu: weeks ahead
- Lelepa Island: weeks ahead
- Pele Island: a few days ahead
- Nguna Island: a few days ahead
- Vanuatu Ecotours: weeks ahead
- In the late June to August peak, book flights, Eratap and Tamanu class rooms, Air Taxi charters, Ecotours days and Lelepa weeks ahead.
- Book the Friday Ekasup feast night and the Beach Bar fire show, and check the cruise ship schedule to plan around cruise days.
- On cruise days use town, the market and the museum, and save lagoons, Hideaway and waterfalls for non cruise days.
- Sundays are quiet with closures, so plan lagoon or resort days then.
Is Port Vila safe?
- Travel insurance with medical evacuation is not optional and must cover your diving, volcano and adventure activities.
- Cyclones run November to April and earthquakes are a lived risk: follow local geo hazard advice and avoid visibly damaged buildings.
- Wear reef shoes everywhere, heed local swimming advice on currents, and use repellent and cover up at dusk for dengue.
- At night take a bus or taxi rather than walking unlit roads, keep valuables low key at crowded markets, and arrange transport after a nakamal.
- All land is owned: never wander onto beaches or into villages uninvited, and ask before photos of people or ceremonies.
Port Vila travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Mele Cascades at current prices and condition, with high combined fees and earthquake damage reported: choose Rarru and Eden instead.
- Bundled cruise day bus tours stacking turtle pools, lookouts and chocolate factories as filler.
- Waterfront strip pub dinners at steakhouse prices, when Kai Vanua, Cafe Vila and the market exist.
- Duty free treated as a day out, and over hopping islands when Efate plus one island done deeply is better.
- Aggressive haggling and assumed tipping: neither is customary, so pay the fair price and move on.
Getting around Port Vila: public transport and more
- Local buses with a B plate have no fixed routes: flag one, name your destination, and pay a flat town fare of about VT 150 to 200.
- Agree taxi prices before moving, especially from the airport, the wharf and for multi stop days.
- Drive on the right, expect potholes, book rental cars ahead in peak season, and never drive after kava.
- Bauerfield Airport is about 10 to 15 minutes from town, with shared shuttles and hotel transfers the easy arrival.
- Never put a domestic flight and an international departure on the same day, as small island flights shift with weather.
Who Port Vila suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Port Vila your trip
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