In Port Vila, as the sun drops behind Iririki Island and the air cools, men (and, depending on the custom context, some women) start drifting toward nakamals. These are the kava bars — anywhere from a few plastic chairs and a generator-powered light to elaborate open-air buildings with separate seating areas. The business of the evening is kava, and the business of kava is social connection.

Kava is made from the root of Piper methysticum, a plant in the pepper family. Vanuatu's varieties are among the strongest in the world, with high concentrations of the active compounds called kavalactones. Fresh kava is prepared by pounding or grinding the root, mixing with cold water, and straining. You drink it quickly — one shell at a time — from half a coconut shell. The taste is earthy, slightly numbing, and not something most first-timers enjoy. The effect takes about twenty minutes: a gentle relaxation, mild euphoria, no hangover.

The cultural weight of kava in Vanuatu goes far beyond recreation. In kastom ceremonies, kava is essential. A chief cannot properly open important discussions without kava. Compensation ceremonies for disputes, grade-taking ceremonies, arrival of important guests — all involve kava as a ritual frame. This connects kava directly to the spiritual and political fabric of ni-Vanuatu life.

Vanuatu has fought hard to protect its kava export market. The European Union banned kava imports in 2002 following disputed research linking it to liver damage, devastating the emerging Vanuatu kava export industry. After years of lobbying and better-quality research, the EU lifted the ban in 2015 for traditional water extracts. Vanuatu's government and farmers had argued — correctly — that the health concerns were mainly about ethanol-extracted kava products and poor-quality cultivars, not the noble kava varieties they grow.

The export market is now significant. Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and European countries all import Vanuatu kava. Online retailers sell it to customers managing anxiety without pharmaceuticals. The Pacific wellness tourism market uses kava as part of retreat offerings. This commercialization creates opportunities for farmers but also tensions — the risk that commercial pressure could push toward quantity over quality, or that the ritual context gets stripped from a product that is, in Vanuatu, deeply contextual.

Nakamal culture in Port Vila reflects the city's diversity. You'll find nakamals catering to specific island groups, others that are general-purpose, and some that serve as informal business meeting spots. Price per shell varies; quality varies more. Regulars know which nakamals have fresh root, which prepare it well, which are quiet enough for conversation. It's a whole geography of social preference mapped onto the city.

Women's access to kava spaces varies significantly by island and community. In some areas, women drink kava freely. In others, there are strict kastom rules against women touching kava preparation or being present at certain ceremonies. Urban nakamal culture tends to be more relaxed about this. The tension between kastom rules and changing social norms is ongoing and handled differently in different places — as you'd expect in a country with 138 languages and as many distinct cultural systems.

For visitors to Vanuatu, sitting at a nakamal, drinking a shell of fresh kava, and watching the evening conversations flow is one of the most direct ways to experience the culture. It requires slowing down, which is the point.