Hotels in Vanuatu

Vanuatu is a Y-shaped chain of some 80 volcanic islands in the South Pacific, and it offers something almost nowhere else does: the chance to stand on the rim of an active volcano and watch lava fountain out of the crater below. Mount Yasur on Tanna erupts more or less continuously and is reachable by 4WD, making it one of the most accessible active volcanoes anywhere.

Espiritu Santo has the other headline attraction, the SS President Coolidge, a converted luxury liner turned troopship that sank in 1942 and now lies in water shallow enough to dive from the beach, alongside the blue holes and the impossibly white sand of Champagne Beach. Port Vila on Efate is the base for most arrivals, with a market, a waterfront and easy day trips to Mele Cascades.

The December 2024 earthquake damaged parts of central Port Vila, but the recovery is well advanced: over 90 percent of hotels are operating, major properties including the Grand Hotel have reopened, and Santo and Tanna were unaffected. Some businesses have relocated from the old CBD and roadworks continue, so allow extra time in town.