As you will see throughout the Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) Website, Vanuatu offers some of the most unique tourism, natural and cultural experiences on offer on the planet today. Vanuatu abounds with cultural and natural resources not found in many sailing destinations.
It is the last of the accessible tribal South Pacific, as written about by novelist of past centuries. Many of Vanuatu’s islands and groups are relatively inaccessible to the normal tourism networks, in part one of the reasons why Vanuatu has maintained strong cultural roots and maintained an extremely high level of Tribal cultural practices, many unchanged in dozens of generations. Cruising Yachts provide some of our outer lying communities with an opportunity to welcome visitors and generate money to their local economies through entrance fees to custom events, sale of handicrafts and sale of local provisions. Do not expect to find custom performances on demand in Vanuatu’s outer islands.
The events and activities continue on as normal to the timeline of the local communities. The culture here is living; therefore you will only see events which are part of scheduled community activities. The bonus is that there are many of these within Vanuatu in the season which corresponds with sailing season.
Information on events can be found in two places on the VTO website, firstly the Calendar of Events which lists all of Vanuatu’s events and the Cultural Festivals, both which are listed under Activities and Events on the website. In many cases the only way to visit some of these incredible festivals is under the power of sail or motor, certainly for the more isolated communities. The Vanuatu Culture Centre offers information on interacting with local communities, in addition to information on their Projects and Upcoming Events.
These may provide some insight into some of the exciting sites worth visiting in the Vanuatu Islands. With South Easterly trades washing over Vanuatu during the sailing season it is almost always a reach or a run getting here. A number of yachts now opt to enter through Tanna our Southern most clearing port, taking time to visit Yasur, one of the worlds most accessible volcanoes before moving north through to Efate, the home of the capital Port Vila and beyond. This list provides a rough outline on the sailing direction to Vanuatu from some key ports. These should not be used for navigation and are estimates only.
Clearing Customs and Immigration
Port Of Entry - Boarding Officers - Office Location - Contact (+678) - Other Information
Port Vila, Efate Island
Honore Tiasinmal, Tony Georges
Customs Wharf
+678 22082, +678 77 58899
Sail into Port Vila harbour and anchor at Quarantine buoy situated on the Left hand side of the seawall as you enter into the harbour.
Port Vila, Efate Island
Honore Tiasinmal, Tony Georges
Customs Wharf
+678 22082, +678 77 58899
Sail into Lenakel and call office or sail into Port Resolution and Port Resolution Bungalows (68791) will call the Officer and have him come down. This seems the preferred option.
Tanna
Iau Tuan
Customs Wharf
+678 22082, +678 77 58899
Sail into Lenakel and call office or sail into Port Resolution and Port Resolution Bungalows (68791) will call the Officer and have him come down. This seems the preferred option.
Luganville, Espirtu Santo
Harold Simeon
Luganville
+678 36225
Santo Customs are open Monday to Friday, 07:30-11:30 and 13:15-16:30. If they are needed outside these times contacts are: Reuben Lini 44118 and Graeme Waute 54049.There is a quarantine mooring outside main wharf they should pick up.
Sola, Banks Islands
Franco Andre
Sola
+678 38540
Contact Customs on Arrival
Documentation required for Cruising Yachts
Information related to permits, length of stay and local regulations are outlined in the Notice to Masters of Visiting Yachts and Small Craft.
Yacht Registration Forms
There are two different forms which have been supplied to the VTO which should be completed on arrival. The first is a Cruising Yacht Declaration which outlines the vessel details, crew details, Customs declarations and crew movements. The second is an Inter Island Cruising Permit for Yachts which asks you to list the Island you intend to visit. The questions on the two forms are often duplicated.
Meeting or Departing a Yacht in Vanuatu - One way travel to or from Vanuatu
Flying in and Sailing out
Passengers flying into the country who are scheduled to meet a yacht and sail out, are required to submit a One Way Requirement Form, and a supporting letter from the receiving skipper, prior to arrival.
The letter from the skipper should outline the vessel name and details, give permission for the person to join the crew in Vanuatu and give an undertaking that the crew person listed will be sailing out on that vessel. These should then be faxed to Immigration on (+678) 25 492. Immigration will then prepare and sign a One Way Requirement Letter which authorizes a one-way ticket departing via yacht. This will be faxed back to the crew member. The crew member should present this with their incoming airline ticket to Immigration on arrival as they enter Vanuatu. (You cannot enter Vanuatu without a one way ticket if you do not have this letter prior to arrival). The One Way Requirement Letter fee is 5000 Vatu.
The Passenger is required to pay this at immigration on arrival to Vanuatu. You can buy Vatu currency at international airports in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. There is also an ANZ ATM just inside the Vanuatu terminal just past Immigration if you have cards which work overseas. To follow up on the progress of your form and authority letter you can call (+678) 22 354. The skipper of the yacht accepting the crew member must complete the standard Yacht Departure forms at Customs/Immigration Office and add the additional crew member on the crew list to confirm their departure as per the One Way Requirement letter. This clearance should be completed up to 24 hours before departure.
Sailing In and Flying out
If a crew member is leaving the yacht in Vanuatu and departing via air, the skipper will note this on the Arrival Registration documents during clearance. In this case the crew member must already be holding an outward airline ticket (one way) on their arrival in country. For more information, contact Shipping at the Vanuatu Immigrations Office on (678) 22 354.