City: Vanuatu
Top Things to do in Vanuatu
Things to do in Vanuatu, Vanuatu: The Best Nature & Wildlife Areas
Vanuatu (English: /ˌvɑːnuˈɑːtuː/ ( listen) VAH-noo-AH-too or /vænˈwɑːtuː/ van-WAH-too; Bislama, French IPA: [vanuatu]), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (French: République de Vanuatu, Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is a Pacific island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 kilometres (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 kilometres (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of the Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji.
Restaurants in Vanuatu
1. Santo's Blue Hole Hangout
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 25 reviews
Vanuatu's largest island, Espiritu Santo, is home to many blue holes: naturally occurring springs of clean, clear water that get their blue colour from their depth, purity, and mineral content. Santo's Blue Hole Hangout is located at the best of them - Jackie's blue hole (previously known as Nanda Blue Hole). Dive in from one of our jetties or jump from an overhanging tree into the crystal clear waters that is home to a rich diversity of beautiful fresh water fish. It does not end here - there is a campsite available for those happy campers and an on site cafe for those wanting a cup a coffee or a cold beer.
Reviewed By MichelleO1313 - Sydney, Australia
This was amazing and worth a visit. It really is a big blue hole. Water was beautiful and heaps of fish swimming with you. Loved it. Great cool off
2. Freshwater Plantation
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 113 reviews
A unique interpretive experience of a working cocoa plantation incorporating the Aore Island Bat Cave on the 300 acre property in the Segund Channel. Just a short boat ride from Santo mainland and a few minutes out of Luganville, Freshwater welcomes guests to stay on the plantation (see www.freshwater.vu for details) or visit for the day to relax, swim and snorkel and dine in our restaurant. Daily guided tours of the plantation are conducted every day in the morning and afternoon and suitable for all ages, and fitness levels. We are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and host events such as Thirsty Thursday happy hours and Sunday afternoon buffet with live entertainment. Don't miss this highly recommended day out during your visit to Santo.
Reviewed By sue_marieUk - York, United Kingdom
From the beginning (catching the free ferry from St Michel Landing) to finishing with lunch, snorkelling and the ferry back this was a wonderful trip. Jack was my excellent guide and he pointed out various plants, insects, fruits and trees, plus told some local folklore tales as we walked around the plantation. I personally loved everything about the bat cave but it might not suit everyone and you can easily miss out this part of the walk if you don’t like the thought of all the batS overhead and cockroaches underfoot! Lunch after the tour was superb and great value. I had the Tuluk entree followed by Death by Chocolate - both dishes were by far the best food I’ve had since coming to Vanuatu ten days ago. For the tour, my advice is to wear sturdy shoes if you have them, and take drinking water. Put some mozzie spray on before setting off. Hand sanitiser might be good, although it’s provided at the bat cave. After lunch, I went snorkelling in the crystal clear water and saw the most beautiful fish without ever getting out of my depth. Take reef shoes. Magical. I can’t recommend the Freshwater Plantation enough!
3. Nanda Blue Hole
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 355 reviews
Reviewed By Liammoore199 - Bangkok, Thailand
How on earth is water this blue? We came here and just realised how dreamy this place is, just look at it you can see all the way to the bottom clearest water I’ve ever seen! There is a rope swing here so you can have lots of fun on it or just swim! If you come to Vanuatu please come to Santo!!
4. Eden on the River
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 196 reviews
Reviewed By gosnm - Mallacoota, Australia
We loved Eden on the River as it was our kind of really relaxing afternoon. The gardens are well designed and maintained, and have little signs that tell you about the plants. The owner, Carolyn (Appologies if mis-spelt) also showed us around her veggie / fruit garden which we were really interested in. This was much more informative than the garden tour with the guide was. Many of the home grown fruit and veggies end up on the menu in the cafe - including the white Kumala which they use for hot chips. I’m not a usual kumara / sweet potato fan, but these were AMAZING chips, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and more potato flavoured than the orange varieties. The cafe also serves Tanna coffee in a plunger for 2 - lovely :) The river is stunning and has beautiful big clear pools. We borrowed 2 of the tire tubes and had loads of fun just floating around in the pools and sliding down the little cascades. It’s shady so nice and cool, and very relaxing... I reckon we spent over an hour just swimming. We actually went to Eden on the River with the intention to play mini-golf but ended up doing the ‘bridge walk and garden walk’ instead as it looked interesting on the brochure. I can appreciate that for children, and people who haven’t done much in the way of adventure activities the bridge would be exciting. But for us we took less than 20 minutes to do the walk and cross the bridge - if we’d seen it first we would have stuck with the self-tour and mini-golf idea. The fruit platter after the tour was nice touch. If we went again we’d just pay the 1000vt entrance fee each and enjoy the gardens / river without the tours... and then pay to play the mini-golf. In saying that though, the value for our money was in the owners who, when we told them how much we’d paid to get a bus out (1000vt for 2) they told us it was too much. So at the end of the work day they drove us back to the road with some of the staff and got one of the young staff members to help us get a bus for - costing us only 200vt each back to Vila. Overall a really relaxing day, but would suggest people do the river walk for themselves first (included in the entrance fee) and have a look and decide if the bridges will excite you.
5. Rentapao Riverside
6. The Reef Vanuatu Zoological
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 185 reviews
Vanutu zoological is a wildlife conservation and education centre. Lots photos opportunities, hand feeding bady turtles and seeing some of vanuatu amazing and rare animals. We hope all our guests leave with a new appreciation for the animals that we all share our environment with.
Reviewed By Larvonne - Brisbane, Australia
First stop to this amazing little place. Great interaction with staff. The owner (Australian) even came out to talk about his goals and how he has expanded the shore line for the turtles. The time, effort and money you can see that he has dedicated to taking in hatchlings and giving them a safe environment to thrive before being released. A great way to start out to give these gorgeous creatures a fighting chance. Would definitely go back again. Thank you for the amazing experience ❤️
7. Hideaway Island Marine Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,893 reviews
Reviewed By Ricksdiveschool - Port Macquarie, Australia
My daughter and I spend a terrific day Free-diving the reefs of Hideaway Island and lounging around enjoying the view.
8. Rainbow Parrot Nature Park
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 8 reviews
TEMPORARILY CLOSED - WELCOME TO THE PARK! Our purpose is to connect people with Vanuatu’s beautiful, exotic plants and animals. Get up close and personal with animals that most visitors never see! Come walk through our 800 square meter aviary among more than 30 species of Vanuatu’s exotic wildlife. Don't rush; be prepared to spend 30-60 minutes in the park. Look big, look small, look up and down, and you will have a wonderful experience with nature.
Reviewed By pigwhat
We came here on our last day in Vanuatu and loved it! its a wonderful showcase of the different native plants and animals. The plant have cards with write ups about what each plant is and its uses ect. we really liked seeing what the plants where used for. The birds are beautiful, I particularly liked the little ground dwelling one that ran very fast, and getting to hold some starfish was pretty fun. its only been open 7 months and its already amazing, so I can imagine its only going to get better and better as they ass more birds and animals. we would highly recommend this experience to everyone!
