Travel Info
VANUATU TRAVEL INFORMATION
ACCOMMODATION
Moorings Hotel provides the newest harbour-front accommodation in Port Vila. Safe, secure and with sensational views of the harbour. Please take the time to visit our fabulous Moos Bar and Grill where you will find the freshest seafood and steaks along with delicious meals made from all the local organic produce. Rumours nightclub is the place to be after dinner for a dance party atmosphere and to rub shoulders with fellow travellers and locals alike. Please always feel free to ask our friendly staff any questions that will make your stay more comfortable.
AIRPORT
Bauer field airport is just 10 minutes from Vila. There is a currency exchange facility there. All departure taxes, both for domestic and International are included in the airfare.
ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS
Vanuatu is home to some brilliant traditional artists, potters, weavers and carvers. You will find a wide range of traditional handicrafts in the centre of town at Handicraft Blong Vanuatu and also at Art Blong Yumi and Goodies. Remember to declare these items at customs on your return. Diana Tam is a fabulous artist who works from her own studio just out of Vila in Ellouk. Her gallery is open from 1.30pm till 5pm Mon Fri and 2pm till 4pm on Saturdays. Visit in the mornings to see the artist at work. Check the location at our Reception/Tour Desk.
AIRLINES
AIR VANUATU (NATIONAL AIRLINE)
Air Vanuatu code shares with Qantas. Purchasing connections before arrival as part of a package should work out as better value and seats will be guaranteed. It is still always best to confirm your flights, especially when flying out of Vila as the flight schedules can change without notice. Click here for more information on Air Vanuatu.
PACIFIC BLUE (VIRGIN)
Pacific Blue fly twice weekly (Monday & Saturday) from Brisbane. Other Australian cities connect to Brisbane via the Virgin Domestic schedules. For more information on the Pacific Blue and Virgin services/availability - [click here]
If you ARE planning to visit the outer islands of Vanuatu during your stay, please talk to us before your make your domestic bookings. At at the 1st January 2009, the discount if flying here by Air Vanuatu is 20% on domestic Air Vanuatu flights. If flying to Vanuatu via Pacific Blue the discount on domestic Air Vanuatu flights is 10%. However you can easily miss out if you don't go about it the right way. Just email us for more information.
MAP OF AIR VANUATU ROUTES
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ALCOHOL
The local beer is Tusker and is actually a great drop and cheaper than the imports. As they say, when in Rome&&& Wines are available from various bottle shops around Vila and at the supermarket. Australian, French and New Zealand wines take up most of the shelves and it is worth taking your own to restaurants that will allow BYO. Corkage is V300-400. It is illegal to buy alcohol from noon on Saturday till Monday morning. No such restrictions in bars and restaurants.
ATM's
ANZ, Westpac and thee Bred Bank all have teller machines outside their branches and there is one at the airport and at the Le Bon Marche, the main supermarket.
BANKING
Trading banks are ANZ, Westpac, National Bank of Vanuatu (which also has a branch in Luganville on Santo) and the BRED Bank. Banking hours are 9am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday. The National Bank of Vanuatu's airport office is open for all flight arrivals. Goodies Money Exchange has very good rates. Check the location at our Reception/Tour Desk.
BUSINESS HOURS
Offices are generally open from 7:30am to 11:30am and from 1:30pm to 5:00pm, Monday to Friday. Shops from 8:00am to 11:30am and from 1:30pm to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday and 8:00 to Noon on Saturday. Banks from 8:00 to 3:00pm Monday to Friday and the Post Office from 7:30am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday.
BAKERIES
La Parisienne and Ah Pow bakeries are excellent bakeries to visit for delicious fresh bread&remember the French influence! They are closed from12 noon till 3pm&strangely right over the lunch hour! For amazing little French pastries try Au Peche Mignon where you can but delicious fresh fruit tarts and tortes as well as savory baguettes for lunch. Always a busy place with a great atmosphere and outside seating. Very easy to find in downtown Port Vila near the Fruit/Vegie Market House.
BUS
The local busses will take you anywhere within the Port Vila vicinity for 150 Vatu. Look for the letter B next to the front number plate and simply flag him down, tell him where you want to go and, voila!...although you may get to drop off a few locals before you get to your destination. They are rickety old things too, with belching smoke and fumes, but they do the job.
CLIMATE
Summer is from November to March, the average temperature is 28 C and it can be hot, wet and humid. Winter is from April to October with the temperature averaging 23 C. Sea temperature varies from 22 to 28 degrees making swimming enjoyable all year round.
moorings
CHEMISTS
There are three chemists in the main street, one French and two English. All the main toiletries, e.g., soap, shampoo and deodorant can be purchased at a cheaper price at the supermarket. Use the chemist for prescription drugs etc. The best bet is to bring a first aid kit with you. Stock it with the usual items, plus tweezers, Betadine antiseptic, sunburn lotion and Imodium( anti diahorreah tablets). You may need to bring some prophylactic anti-malarial tablets if you are going to the more remote outer islands. You dont need them for Port Vila.
CLOTHING
Dont expect to do much in the way of clothes shopping here. You will pay a premium at the few boutiques and surf stores. Do pack a jumper for the cooler evenings and bring some long pants and something that covers your shoulders (for the girls) if you are visiting any of the villages. Skimpy clothing is considered vulgar and is taboo in the villages. Also a light raincoat is recommended for the monsoonal downpours. The Ni Van women wear wonderful, brightly colored Mother Hubbard dresses, which flap and flip in the breeze! Perfect for the hot and sticky summer months.
CREDIT CARDS
Credit cards are accepted in most of the resorts, restaurants and bars. They are not accepted in the supermarkets. There are ATMs located in the main street.
CRIME
As with any destination, be vigilant and aware of where your personal belongings are. Most of the local people are wonderfully honest but as with anywhere else in the world there are the odd who are opportunists. For the girls, dont go wandering around at night on your own. Sometimes the locals spilling out of the clubs at 3am are a little loud and scary!
CURRENCY CONVERTER
The local currency unit is Vatu and most foreign currencies can be changed. Goodies in town have the best rate for cash and travellers cheques, or head for the banks. An approximation would be about 80 vatu to the Aussie dollar. Check for currency converter here.
CYCLONES
Yes we do have cyclones! Its really a question of battening down the hatches..ie, close the shutters and stay indoors! Most of the injuries occur through flying debris. You can get daily updates on the weather in all of Vanuatu by looking at www.weather-forecast.com. Those locals and ex-pats alike who have lived through many cyclones have a range of descriptions for them, from terrifying to "great party!" to "the silence during the eye of the storm was unearthly". Be prepared and then sit back and relax with a drink until its over!
DOCTORS
There is a medical centre in the town, just down the road from Moorings Hotel, staffed by ex-pat Doctors. They are available after hours (check with Hotel Reception) . ProMedical has provided paramedic services in Port Vila, Vanuatu since September 2000. Over that time the scope of the service has grown to include 24-hour ambulance, local & overseas medevac, hyperbarics and first aid training. Current travel advice from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) can be accessed by clicking here.
DRUGS
There are no hard drugs in Vanuatu and it would be safe to say there is no drug problem. Occasionally the odd waft of marijuana can be smelt coming from a local or tourist, but the main hallucinogen of choice is Kava. This ground up root is mixed with water to form a watery soup which tastes like something between liquid cement and pepper! You down it quickly, before food, and finish with a water chaser and a chunk of coconut, presumably to get the awful taste out of your mouth!. Then your tongue goes numb, followed by your whole mouth (great for mouth ulcers!) and then your head turns to cotton wool and the troubles of the world evaporate. Loud noises and bright lights are disturbing to the kava devotee and much spitting on the floor follows a good session, so wear shoes when entering a Kava hut!
ELECTRICITY
Most places are the same as Australia and New Zealand with the classic three pin plugs. The volts are 220-240 AC. Adaptors can be purchased if you come across the odd French built hotel. Electricity is monumentally expensive in Vanuatu, so please be aware of this and dont leave air conditioners and lights on all day while you are out.
EMAIL AND INTERNET
Our internet cafe will be accessible 24 hrs per day, giving you round the clock access to keeping in touch with friends and family. Feel free to use the facility whenever you please.
FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE
These are a must if planning a trip round the island. The roads are full of pot holes and ruts, making the going slow and bumpy in a conventional vehicle. The Millennium road project is due to start in the next 12 months. This is a USA funded project which the Vanuatu government won a bid for, to build a bitumen road round the main island. Both Avis (22 570) and Budget ( speak to Lorna-she had a great knowledge of what to see around the island) (23 170) have them for hire. Email us to arrange your car hire (4WD or not) in advance or check with our Reception / Travel Desk on arrival at Moorings.
ISLAND TIME
Please dont be in a rush to do anything. On these beautiful tropical islands you are pretty much forced to go with the flow, because unlike our western way of doing everything at a million miles an hour, here in Vanuatu everything happens slowly. Isnt that fantastic! Plenty of time to stop and smell the Hibiscus and Frangipani! Youre on holiday&chill, relax and enjoy and if you have to wait 10 minutes for a beer or a coffee, so what?...tomorrow you will be amazed that it only took 4 minutes!
LAUNDRY
We have a coin operated laundry facility with washers and dryers. Please collect tokens from reception.
MALARIA
Malaria is not considered a problem in Efate and port Vila, however it may be a good idea to take some prophylactic anti malarials with you before visiting the outer islands. For those of you who do not like taking drugs, a homeopathic equivalent can be used as long as it is started 2 weeks before travel .Please consult your doctor or homeopath before travel.
MOBILE PHONES
Mobile phones do work in Vanuatu (not all areas), depending on your roaming service. However it is much cheaper to purchase a sim card from the TVL office or Digicel, both in the main street of Port Vila.
NEWSPAPERS
There's really only one daily newspaper and that is the Daily Post.
NI-VANUATU
This is the term you may hear for the indigenous people and it means of Vanuatu, sometimes abbreviated to Ni-Vans, this term is widely used and accepted amongst the locals.
NUDITY
Forget about topless sun baking or frolicking in the nude on the beach. Nudity is frowned upon on the main beaches and is highly taboo in the village areas. You will find that the older women of the village will swim in their Mother Hubbard dresses, in other words, fully clothed and the younger girls will wear a bikini under a T-shirt and board shorts. Please respect their customs unless you can find a completely deserted beach to bare your butt...!
POST OFFICE
The main post office is situated in the main street of Vila and has all the usual services youd expect from a post office. It opens 7:30 - 4:30 Monday to Friday and 7:30 - 11:30 Saturday mornings. There are public phones and fax/telex services. Phone cards can be purchased here. Other postal/courier services include DHL, TNT, and Vila Agents, who are also an agent for FedEx. Vanuatu Post also operate the world's only Underwater Post Office (on Hideaway Island) and Volcano Post Office on the island of Tanna, South of Efate.
SMOKING
Smoking is banned in shops, banks and food outlets etc, but there are NO non-smoking areas in restaurants or bars. Thankfully, many of these are open to the sea breezes so it will be rare to be stuck inside a smoky area. All our rooms are non-smoking.
SWIMMING
Swim in our beautiful infinity pool, the harbour, the rivers and the beaches .All these areas are safe but please take precautions with small children as there are no lifeguards patrolling any of these areas.
TAXI
Look for a Tico or other small cars with a T on the number plate and youll find yourself a taxi, and there are plenty of them. Some are metered some are not and usually they are considerably more expensive than a bus ride. It is recommended that you agree on a price with the taxi driver, before you set out. They can be hailed from anywhere with the wave of a hand or simply by raising your eyebrows.
TELEVISION
All our rooms have television although the channels are limited. Currently there is Sky TV which broadcast Perths channel 9. All the major Aus and NZ sporting events are usually broadcast on the big screen in the Moorings Hotel bar area.
TIME ZONE
Vanuatu is one hour earlier than East Coast Australia and an hour after New Zealand for the mid-year months. Theres no daylight saving in Vanuatu so when Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania go to daylight saving, its the same time zone. The official time zone is GMT + 11 hours.
WATER
Water is perfectly safe to drink from the tap. It is hard water and calcium rich and tastes fine. Bottled water is also available in any case. If you go exploring the outer islands, just check with our Tour Desk first.
WHY EXPLORE VANUATU?
For more reasons why you should definitely explore Vanuatu and for addition facts about this tropical island paradise [Click Here]
BOOKINGS
To book your accommodation direct with the Hotel, you can either email us direct or you can book on line by simply clicking here and following the prompts.
Looking forward to your company!
