The archive
32 explainers on Vanuatu and the Pacific, newest first.
TravelEfate · Port Vila
A step-by-step guide to Port Vila International Airport: immigration, biosecurity rules, customs, ATMs and exchange, taxi fares, car hire and transfers, from the airport operator's own passenger pages.
7 min read
Economy
Vanuatu's economy is small and growing again after the 2024 earthquake. Here is how tourism, farming and citizenship receipts fit together, with the latest World Bank and ADB figures.
6 min read
EnvironmentVanua Lava
Vanuatu rates each volcano from Level 0 to 5. Here is what the levels mean and where Ambrym, Ambae, Yasur, Lopevi, Gaua, East Epi and Vanua Lava stand on the VMGD list, with how to check before you travel.
8 min read
Citizenship
What does Vanuatu citizenship cost? The official fee table, who can apply by residence, marriage or descent, the ten-step process, and what to check before paying an agent.
7 min read
CulturePentecost
Land diving on Pentecost Island is the yam-harvest ritual that inspired bungee jumping. Here is how the towers and vines work, why it happens from April to June, how to watch respectfully and what to plan for 2027.
8 min read
TravelTanna
Mount Yasur on Tanna is one of the few volcanoes where you can watch explosions from the rim. Here is what VMGD's Alert Level 2 means, how a visit works, what to bring and how to check the volcano before you go.
6 min read
TravelSanto
Santo is Vanuatu's biggest island and its best base for wreck diving, blue holes and white-sand beaches. Here is what to do, how long to stay, how to get there and what the October 2026 quakes mean for your trip.
8 min read
Citizenship
A Vanuatu passport opens 92 destinations without an advance visa, but not Europe, the UK, Australia or the US. Here is where it works in October 2026, why the EU and UK added visas, and how to check before you book.
8 min read
TravelEfate · Port Vila
Port Vila is rated level 1 (normal precautions) by Australia, New Zealand and the US. Here is what is actually risky: night-time theft, dengue, limited medical care and quakes like the 24 October tsunami scare, plus what to do about each.
9 min read
Travel
Vanuatu runs on the vatu, a currency with no cents. Here is what VT1,000 is worth in your money, where to get cash, when cards carry a surcharge, what the bus costs and why you don't need to tip.
7 min read
TravelSanto
Non-stop flights reach Port Vila from Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Nadi, Noumea and Honiara, and Santo has a direct link to Brisbane. Here is who flies where in late 2026, what happened to Air Vanuatu, and how to book a better fare.
7 min read
TravelEfate · Port Vila
Port Vila is warm all year, but its seasons are real: a hot, wet cyclone season from November to April and a cooler, drier stretch from May to October. Here is what each month feels like and how to plan around it.
6 min read
Culture
Kastom — the Bislama word for custom — isn't just tradition for show. It shapes land rights, marriage, conflict resolution, and daily life across Vanuatu's 80-plus islands.
7 min read
History
Vanuatu's independence story is unusual even by Pacific standards — it involved two colonial powers, a coconut rebellion, and a French-backed separatist movement all at once.
6 min read
Environment
For Vanuatu and neighboring Pacific nations, climate change isn't a future problem. Rising seas, intensifying cyclones, and saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies are happening right now.
6 min read
Language
With 138 languages across 80 islands, Vanuatu needed a common tongue. Bislama — born from the Pacific labor trade — became that tongue, and then became something more.
5 min read
Culture
Vanuatu grows some of the world's strongest kava and has been drinking it for centuries. Nakamals — kava bars — are where politics happens, conflicts get resolved, and the day ends.
6 min read
Disaster & RecoverySanto
Cyclone Harold struck Vanuatu with Category 5-strength winds on April 6, 2020, while borders were closed for COVID-19. What happened on Espiritu Santo, how recovery worked, and what it means for visitors.
6 min read
Geopolitics
As great powers compete for influence across the Pacific, small island nations like Vanuatu and Solomon Islands are making strategic choices with consequences larger than their size suggests.
6 min read
Society
Vanuatu has one of the world's worst records for women's political representation. But a growing movement of ni-Vanuatu women is changing that from the inside, slowly and persistently.
6 min read
Economy
Tourism was Vanuatu's biggest industry before COVID shut borders for two years. The reopening brought choices: chase volume or build something more sustainable and community-centered.
5 min read
Arts
Vanuatu's art traditions — from sand drawing to grade-taking sculpture — are recognized by UNESCO and maintained by living artists who learned from their grandparents.
5 min read
Agriculture
Vanuatu's subsistence farmers have fed their communities for generations. Climate change, rural-urban migration, and export crop pressure are testing that system in new ways.
5 min read
Society
Running a school system in two colonial languages across 80 islands with limited infrastructure is genuinely difficult. Vanuatu's educators are doing it anyway, often with remarkable creativity.
5 min read
TravelTanna
An active volcano you can walk to the rim of, the John Frum cargo cult, Yakel village keeping kastom fully intact, and some of the friendliest people in the Pacific. Tanna rewards slow travel.
6 min read
Heritage
Before GPS and charts, Polynesian and Melanesian navigators crossed thousands of miles of open ocean using stars, waves, birds, and currents. This knowledge nearly died. Now it's being recovered.
6 min read
TravelEfate · Port Vila
Port Vila is small by capital city standards, but it packs in markets, dive sites, good food, and a genuinely multicultural Pacific energy. Here's how to spend three days well.
5 min read
Economy
Copra — dried coconut meat — was the cash crop that funded colonial Pacific economies and still supports thousands of Vanuatu families. The industry's future looks different than its past.
5 min read
Society
Running a health system across a scattered archipelago with limited roads and no bridges is genuinely hard. Vanuatu does it with a mix of government facilities, NGO support, and traditional medicine.
5 min read
Travel
The waters around Vanuatu hold everything from WWII wrecks to pristine reefs, dugong feeding grounds to vivid soft coral walls. It's consistently ranked among the world's best diving destinations.
5 min read
Politics
Vanuatu has had more than 60 governments since independence in 1980. Understanding why requires understanding the country's electoral system, political culture, and the role of money in politics.
6 min read
Arts
String band music — guitars, ukeleles, and harmonizing voices — is the soundtrack of Pacific Island life. In Vanuatu, it carries kastom themes into contemporary settings with effortless grace.
5 min read