Vanuatu or French Polynesia (August)

[wandererlaowai]

Hello fellow divers,

1st time to the Pacific islands.

Planning a trip in August and have 2 options right now, either Vanuatu or Polynesia.

Have in mind to go diving of course, but besides to explore. Enjoy also snorkeling, beaches, hiking, nature, culture, food.

Has anyone been to both and would recommend which one to go to? How about weather / water temperature?

Which one you prefer and why?

Any comments / suggestions will be welcome.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Wingy]

I have spent time in both countries. It very much depends on what part of French Polynesia you are looking at - the societies - ie Bora Bora, Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatia or the Tuomotos - Rangiroa and Fakarava.

Rangiroa and Fakarava diving will far surpass diving in the societies or diving in Vanuatu.

If you are a fan of wrecks - Vanuatu with the grand old lady Coolidge and Million Dollar Point in Santo, Vila harbour in Efate is full of easy wrecks including a flying boat and the Star of Russia.

Things to do - the tuomotos - dive, eat, sleep, cycle to the village, get a tatu, dive, wait for Arenui supply ship to pull in once a week, wait for cruise ship and locals will bring out pearls and pareos and trinkets....
- The societies - lots of activities for the tourist sector - circle island tours, lagoonarium tours where people have lunch in the shallows with stingrays flopping around on your lap, polynesian feast and polynesian dance shows, ATV tours, Helicopter tours, tours tours tours lol.
- Vanuatu - far less organised tourist activities if you seek them out. You mentioned hiking - Tanna in the Vanuatu archipeligo has the worlds most easily accessible very active Volcano Mt Yasur and I cant stress enough how amazing an experience climbing Yasur is. Tanna is also the home of the cargo cults - last i was there the Prince Phillip Cult were not doing shows but the John Frum/Tom Navy cult do a ceremony at Port Resolution once a week. Also Nakamel village where the people live a traditional life (organise both Mt Yasur and Traditional Village through white grass resort). Also on Tanna, the Tanna Blue Hole, on Espirito Santo Rhi Rhi blue holes are beautiful as is Milennial Cave and Champagne beach when there is no cruise ships in. Malakeula island also has very active volcano hiking and is "the black magic island". Another really interesting thing to see on Santo is the women water singers...its one of those things that you have to see to understand. Pentecost island has land diving which is really something cool to see and theres another little island off Tanna ive forgotten the name of with pretty much nothing there but amazing nature. In Vila pop into the secret garden to look at Sandroing custom and they will also put on a dance.

So, while I would rate diving in the Tuomotos far superior if youre looking for a diving/land based adventure type holiday...surprising myself here..id recommend Vanuatu.

 

[FindingMenno]

To explore I would certainly recommend Vanuatu. It is truly a special place. I can't add much to the excellent info @Wingy gave you. Every island in Vanuatu has something different so I would certainly try to visit a few.
With the limited time I'd probably focus on Efate (Port Vila), Tanna and Santo to get a good mix of diving and exploring. Tanna is also a great place to 'get lost', just start hiking, somebody will offer you a place to stay.
And after the adventure return to Port Vila and enjoy one of the nicest little towns in the Pacific, and some great steaks and french bakeries.

Have fun!

 

[lamarpaulski]

Wingy is 100% as is Menno.

I got some great Vanuatu advice and contacts from a Vanuatu expat, Sue Herrick - shenterprises2aol.com vanuatutravel.info Very nice lady who was extremely helpful.

Just the access to Mt. Yasur makes Vanuatu a unique place. (and I live on the Big Island)

{I also someday want to see the lava lake on Ambryn in the Vanuatu group. Friends did this and it looked other-worldly. } I did see Tanna and The Yasur Volcano!!!!!!! and dove the incredible Coolidge wreck (pretty deep) and million dollar point. Lots of adventure in Vanuatu. A lot of history as it was a major staging area for the Solomons Campaign in WW2. Local tribal culture is varied and wildly different. Reefs are good but probably not in top 10 in Pacific though. Diving seems run by mostly an Aussie-local mix and was as professional as anywhere.

I did this as part of an ad hoc Fiji-Vanuatu trip so got in the best of both worlds. Flight from Fiji is not bad. I hiked a lot before I got to Vanuatu and was glad I was in decent shape because there is some up and down on jungle hikes there and it's often slippery and quite warm and humid. A couple great hikes to beaches and waterfalls made it worthwhile.

 

[Wingy]

Ahh thank you lamarpaulski - thats it - Ambrym! I found Ambrym a more challenging hike than Yasur but wow - most awesome walking over smoky ground. Staying in a treehouse is also good fun, even though i conveniently forgot im afraid of heights before I booked it. It was all going so well until i stupidly invited everyone up for a party so we could see Yasur spitting out bombies and the breeze came up....was a long and wimpy climb up and down to go to the ladies.

There is one other thing to do I forgot to mention in Tanna...."Arseboarding". Everyone should arseboard at least once in their life
Arseboarding is on the flanks of Yasur - the Ni Vans often refer to the ash plain as "the desert"


Ive also dived Tanna.

 

[wandererlaowai]

Hello everyone,

very helpful and detailed feedback, much appreciated !

Vanuatu is really appealing, my only concern would be water temperature in August.

Inquired with a resort located off Santo and they told me August is "just ok" but September definitely better.

Has anyone been in either Vanuatu or Polynesia in August and could tell whether it is warm enough? I don't mean hot tub warm lol but enough to enjoy and stay relatively long in the water, either diving or snorkelling.

 

[Wingy]

Just checked and ive been in Vanuatu in July, August and March on different trips - July definitely has the coldest water - i had my 5mm and gave my guide my thermal shield to put over his 3mm on deep coolidge dives but i was warm as toast. Water in Tanna was cool but at the surface for swimming and surfing its certainly not too cold for snorkelling and swimming in just bikini/board shorts. August is warmer, March is hot as hell and not enjoyable for hiking volcanos. Stands to reason september would be a little warmer. I wouldnt leave it after November due to cyclone season. IMO August/September would be optimal. Was it Aore Island you contacted? Perhaps get an opinion off a few operators - I can recommend Coral Quays in Santo and Big Blue in Vila.

 

[FindingMenno]

Mt. Marum in Ambrym is cool, to peer down the crater into the lava lake. It's certainly a tougher hike than Mt. Yasur, you would be looking at an overnight trip. Very cool hike though. You start in one of the villages on the coast, through the jungle, then ash plains, we followed a river bed upstream, and finally made it up the volcano.

 

[FindingMenno]

Some clips from my time in Vanuatu, including Ambrym hikes.

 

[FindingMenno]

Regarding water temps. My logs show 24 - 25 C for early September in Efate / Port Vila, and 26 - 27 C for Santo in mid October.