great restaurants & activities in Port Vila, Tanna and Santo Islands, Vanuatu

le meridean resort, vila

Vanuatu has been one of my favorite destinations so far and its only a few hour from Australia. Beautiful tropical scenery, a laid back vibe, great french influenced food & wine, fantastic snorkeling. I particularly enjoyed Port Vila and Tanna Island.

restaurants with best food & ambiance in Port Vila

·        villa chaumiers

·        café du village

·        les houstelet

·        the bali hai bar at iririki island resort, the most beautiful location I have ever been to for a sunset cocktail/mocktail! they have half priced cocktails at happy hour, watch for the sunset lamplighting by man in traditional cossie.

sunset bali hai bar, vila

·        hints for dining out at night ��" take a torch ��" streets are badly lit and footpaths are rough and mozzie repellent as they get you on the ankles

avoid at all costs… les alices restaurant

fun things to do in vila

• check out iririki, erakor islands, ferrys are free and run every few minutes and islands are great for scenic walks,
• erakor island is great really away from it for a few hours, but only a few minutes from town, there is a small quiet eco resort & overwater restaurant, it was originally a historic mission & still has hidden relics of this time; wander south thru & past the resort to discover its hidden history; unique lovely open air garden-church and a hidden pilgrim cemetary with shell decorated graves, keep going on track and it ends in a deserted beach completely covered with shell and coral ‘sand’.
  

  vila market scene
• eco-tours run by Pascal, he runs great cultural tours of local villages and he even runs bicycle tours for you bike fiends
• do a snorkelling tour if you like snorkelling (I took one to north of island which included sail boat island hopping & turtle sanctuary but drive is one hour each way and roads are terrible),  or take a day trip to hideaway island
• craft markets, for great local handicrafts, check out the craft co-op mostly women, they have some great stories
• vila cetral market for great photo ops of village life, dress, flowers,
• if you run out of books join the library, I did!
• if ‘won smol bag’ theatre has a show on try & see them, they’re great!

check out the local supermarkets au bon marche for amazing & cheap French wines and gourmet foods if you want to self cater or picnic, the supermarket at nambatu is the best & has the only English language bookshop and a small selection of local writers and histories, and an atm where you can withdraw cash

the local minibuses are really cheap and a great way to see local life during the day, just hail one and ask if its going to town/nambawan, or nambatu south of town centre.

vila

check out the waterfront promenade & open air food shacks next to village food market, a great local hangout for whole town, the ferry to iririki isle leaves from here.

next: Tanna Island