![\"\"](\"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Chris-on-the-Semle-Federsen-150x150.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Chris-on-Mele-Reef-150x150.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vanuatu is quite well known in the diving world mainly because of the enormous
\nwreck of the President Coolidge and Million Dollar Point. These are both on the
\nlargest island of Espiritu Santo so the other islands tend to get a little overlooked
\nwhen it comes to scuba diving. Having spent 6 months working in Port Vila it is
\ndefinitely not a place that should be overlooked.<\/p>\n
Port Vila is the largest population centre in Vanuatu, but when you compare that to
\nthe rest of the world it cannot be described as large. Those wanting 5-star luxury I
\nwould recommend staying in your resorts as \u201cDowntown\u201d is a little rough around
\nthe edges. Those wanting to experience Vanuatu should certainly go for a wander
\naround town and through the markets to experience the vibrant culture and the
\nwonderful friendliness of the locals even if they do have a wicked sense of
\nhumour. In the surrounding areas there are a few walks, natural swimming pools
\nand waterfalls for all your Instagram needs.<\/p>\n
Late afternoon is kava time, a root drink with sedative effects popular around the
\npacific islands & apparently Vanuatu does it best (a much debated topic). If you
\nwish to give it a try then befriend a local and they will show the best nacamal (kava
\nbar) to go to as the quality does vary quite a bit. Be warned it looks and tastes like
\ndirty water.<\/p>\n
Now on to the most important subject, the diving! Recreationally the diving is
\nfantastic but if you are wanting more techy diving then you may be a little
\ndisappointed as there is very little support for longer, deeper or mixed gas dives.
\nThe potential is there but unfortunately there still aren\u2019t enough people wanting to
\ndo it for it to be worthwhile for the dive shops to offer. All is not lost there are
\nmore than enough dive sites with options to go deep to keep you depth fiends
\nhappy. There are around 20 sites within a 20min boat ride from Port Vila Harbour
\nleaving you spoilt for choice.<\/p>\n
There are 5 wrecks (2 planes 3 ships) ranging from beginner up to advanced, so
\nvirtually everyone can experience the spooky world of wreck diving. The most
\ncommon and easily accessible is the M.V. Konanda, a 50-metre sugar cane
\nfreighter scuttled in 1987. It sits nicely up right in the sand at 26m making for a
\ngreat introduction to wrecks. If you are a little more adventurous all the doors have
\nbeen cut off so penetration is relatively straight forward. It can get a little narrow in
\nthere so make sure you are with a guide and have prior wreck training before going
\nto the interior. In the evening the Konanda is home a school of flashlight fish
\nhaving their own little disco in the inner decks. The Konanda\u2019s cousin ship the
\nSemle Federsen is significantly more advanced but also more spectacular.
\nOriginally scuttled in 1985, the devastating force of cyclone Uma pushed the
\nSemle from its original resting place of 30m down the slope so the props are
\naround 38m and the bow is at roughly 52m. Unfortunately, this means dive time is\u00a0shortened which is a shame as the clarity of water around this wreck (usually
\nranges from 25 to 60m) and the stunning range of fans that have bloomed on its
\ndecks make it a truly breathe-taking dive.<\/p>\n
For those who don\u2019t mind low vis I can recommend The Star of Russia, an 83-
\nmetre iron hulled square rigger built in 1874 by the same manufactures as the
\nTitanic, luckily its history isn\u2019t quite so infamous. After breaking many records,
\nand an illustrious career it finally succumbed to the sea at its moorings in the
\nharbour in sometime around 1953. It sits at 36 metres but the deck is at the 27-29
\nmetres range. Due to more traffic in the harbour and the silty bottom visibility can
\nbe as low as 3m. This, for me, makes the experience all the better even more so
\nwhen you hear of the ships unlucky\/murderous reputation when it comes to losing
\nits crew. I wouldn\u2019t suggest penetration as the structural integrity of the wreck is
\nstarting to fail due to its age but it is a must for divers in Port Vila.<\/p>\n
If you came to Vanuatu to see ocean critters then the reef dives are the dives for
\nyou. The two most common sites as they are the closest and most sheltered from
\nthe swells, are Bob\u2019s Alley and Twin Bommies. Bob\u2019s is great for beginners as the
\nsandy bottom offers a nice failsafe for not so nice buoyancy control and still gets a
\ngreat range of sea life. Hawksbill and Green turtles are usually cruising around as
\nwell as the local moray eels, sting rays and enormous napoleon wrasse. Twin
\nBommies offers pretty much everything you could ever ask from a tropical dive
\nsite. A beautiful drop off on one side often a good spot to see a school of young
\nbarracuda and if you are lucky some devil rays just might sail past and on the other
\nside two large coral formations with magnificent colours and bristling with life.
\nTurtles, white tip reef sharks, banded sea snakes, giant moray eels, numerous
\ndifferent species of lionfish and sweetlips. And for that one person in the group
\nthat just can\u2019t get enough of nudibranchs they will not be disappointed. Not only is
\nthis dive site a treat in the day but its true potential is as a night dive. Green turtles
\nuse the coral formations to sleep under and when the lights go out the squid and
\nbioluminescent zooplankton give a dazzling light show.<\/p>\n
I could sit here and go on about every single dive site in Port Vila as they all have
\ntheir own little charms and frankly reminiscing about diving is helping me through
\nthis diveless lockdown. But I feel that would be pretty excessive so I'll just go
\nthrough the best bits.<\/p>\n
Mele reef, where do I start? Mele reef consists of a few dive sites all clustered on
\nthe other side in Mele bay. It is pretty much like diving in a post card, the coral has
\nto be seen to be believed. In other sites the coral is in pretty good shape but you
\ncan tell the effects of global warming and the yearly battering of cyclones has
\ntaken its toll. Mele on the other hand looks fake, just perfectly healthy coral as far
\nas the eye can see which is usually pretty damn far as on good days the viz is
\n30\/40+m. This is the place for shark lovers as baby white tip sharks are seen here
\nregularly. Bronze whalers and tigers have sometimes been sighted in the deeper parts as well.<\/p>\n
This side of the bay is often quite limited due to the direction and
\nstrength of the wind and can only be done first thing in the morning as by the
\nafternoon the chop will have picked up a little too much to be comfortable. We had
\nmore than a few divers feeding the fish with their lunch on the return journey.
\nHonourable mention goes to the Cathedral. You can probably guess this dive site
\nas it is a very common name for open topped sea caverns but what can I say? It
\nlooks like an underwater cathedral. At around 18m deep and 6-7m wide it\u2019s very
\naccessible for all skill levels and 100% worth a visit. As with Mele, it is restricted
\nby weather. Swells and current could make this a dangerous site so don\u2019t be
\nexpecting a guarantee to be able to see this one.<\/p>\n
When it comes to recommending somewhere to go for a diving holiday Port Vila is
\nsurely up there for me. Having over 450 dives there, I don\u2019t think I can recall a
\nparticular dive where I thought \u201cnah that was rubbish\u201d every day was something
\ndifferent. My homemade wet suit built of beer and pies was more than enough for
\nthe 24 degree winter water making for very comfortable diving and the visibility
\nrarely dropped below 15m. Saving the best for the last, the one thing you should
\ndive in Vanuatu for is the dugongs. It is a life changing experience getting to swim
\nalongside these graceful creatures. If they are alone, they will not say no to a nice
\nback scratch and can sometimes be found using the mooring lines for a rub. If they
\nare with a calf, they will make a surprisingly hasty get away from divers. They are
\nnot the most common sight on a dive and it took me 220 dives to actually see one
\nunderwater. That said, lady luck is most certainly not on my side when it comes to
\nseeing cool things in the water so maybe just keep your fingers crossed.<\/p>\n
So if you were thinking about it or you\u2019ve never even heard of it, Port Vila should
\ndefinitely be on your list of places to dive.
\nOh and drink Tusker it\u2019s delicious.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vanuatu is quite well known in the diving world mainly because of the enormous wreck of the President Coolidge and Million Dollar Point. These are both on the largest island of Espiritu Santo so the other islands tend to get a little overlooked when it comes to scuba diving. Having spent 6 months working in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677\/revisions\/681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}