Port-Vila Things to Do

4 more images

Keep your eyes open while taking a walk through the town of Vila and maybe you are lucky to see some of these graffities and murals there. Around the Vanuatu Holiday hotel I saw these murals in my pictures here !
b.t.w. this hotel is quite small and is also far away from the beach, maybe they have a pool, I dont know, as these murals were painted on a high wall around the hotal.

4 more images

Here you can see some local houses that I saw while taking a walk through Vila. Most of the houses look quite european, but at least some of the hotels have straw-thatched roofs in order to imitate the local buildings of ancient times (my last picture).

4 more images

This is the catholic church of Vila and I was glad that I saw the inscription that you will see in my 2nd photo here, as this church does not look at all like a church and it was also surrounded by a high fence and a closed gate, so there was no chance to get a closer look.
Holy Mass is daily at 06.00pm

3 more images

A few minutes's drive from the city, this attraction is indeed an amazing example of Vanuatu's natural treasure! After passing through a chaotic town, Port Vila, the scenery quickly changes as you will be greeted with verdant surroundings, plenty of wonderful tropical plants and flowers which are nowhere near the size of their equal in Oz!

The climb to the top is especially STEEP but just the lower parts of the falls are scenic enough! The weather when we were there was a stinker but it didn't stop us from enjoying this wonderful part of paradise!

You don't have to pay for tours to come here. From the city, just ask a cab driver to take you there and haggle with him so you can be picked up after a couple of hours. Make sure you don't pay right away so he will come back for you to be safe! For the four of us, we paid $150 for the whole day as he showed as around Port Vila and took us to Hideaway Island as well. We got picked up around 3 pm to give us plenty of time to make it to our ship.

1 more image

A fave activity of my family is snorkelling. Hideaway Island is perfect for it as the clear waters here showcases the pristine beauty of this paradise!

We forgot our snorkelling gear so we bought new ones from the Hideaway Island shop. It was a bit expensive compared to shops here like Big W but it was still worth it. You can hire them also at the Island's shop but we thought we might also snorkel at the next island we were to sail to- Isle of Pines so we didn't mind.

Right in the middle of town are the markets. They are open every day from just after dawn until whenever they feel like packing up and going home - usually this starts happening around 3 or 3:30. The last people are gone by dusk (around 5:30 in the winter).

The large, covered area of the market is dominated by food. You can get fresh fruits, veggies, seafood, laplap (a common food made from grated yams, bananas, taro, manioc, or kusava and covered in coconut milk -- sometimes with extras on top like local cabbage, crab, or other seafood, then wrapped in pandana leaves and baked over hot rocks or coals).

In front of and just to the side of the food stalls are clothing and crafts.

2 more images

Vanuatu Sea Planes. Another 'P&O shore tour' newly added, but not just for cruise lines.
$99 for half hour. Again, Australian owned & run. Pilot, Wayne, great guy!
Port pick up, it's only about 200 metres to location, but P&O make them pick you up & drop you off! I'd never been on a sea plane before, so it was great fun. Take off & landing, really no different to 'land' planes, much to my surprise, but it is more fun taking off and landing in water:) Fabulous views & you get to see a fair bit of Vanuatu. Seats 4 passengers & 1 pilot, only. There are weight restrictions, because the plane is so small & light, so check first that you will fit & be allowed on board.

1 more image

Club Hippique - beautiful rainforest rides, catering for all level of riders. Paid $69 (AU) on P&O shore tour. 3 hours total. Pick up at Port, 20 minute drive to location. Ride through rainforest and river swim, bareback, at end of the day. There's a bar with drinks & basic snacks, all reasonably priced. Australian owners took over 16 months ago. Highly recommend.