Before you fly
Travelling to Vanuatu: Visas, Seasons, Flights and Biosecurity
Four things decide whether a trip to Vanuatu runs smoothly: whether you can enter, when you go, whether the domestic legs connect, and what you tried to bring through quarantine.
Before booking anything
Three things decide the shape of a trip to Vanuatu. Whether you can enter — for most nationalities, yes, on arrival. When you go — the dry season from May to October, or the wet season with a real chance of disruption. And whether the domestic legs connect, which is the one most itineraries underestimate.
The domestic flight problem
Nearly every domestic route radiates from Port Vila, aircraft are small, baggage allowances are strict and schedules move with weather and load. A cancelled flight from an outer island can cost whole days. The standing advice is to be back in Port Vila the night before any international departure.
Money, health and connectivity
Cash outside the two towns, always. Malaria prophylaxis is a question for a travel clinic, not for a guide. Medical evacuation insurance matters because the referral hospitals are limited and there is no recompression chamber in the country. Mobile coverage is good in town and patchy everywhere else.
What you may bring and take
Biosecurity is enforced seriously in both directions: Vanuatu protects an agricultural sector that lacks several regional pests, and Australia and New Zealand apply their own rules to what leaves.
Common questions
Do you need a visa to visit Vanuatu?
Most Western nationalities are admitted on arrival for 30 days with a passport valid six months, an onward ticket and an address. See visas and entry.
When should you go?
May to October for weather and reliability. November to April is cheaper and greener but is also the cyclone season.
How do you get to the outer islands?
Domestic flights out of Port Vila, with small aircraft, strict baggage limits and schedules that move. The network was cut by the 2024 liquidation of the national carrier and has been restored route by route, so the destinations served are worth checking before planning around them.
Is it expensive?
Imported goods and tourist-facing businesses are expensive by regional standards. Market food, minibuses and village accommodation are not.
Electricity, water and what stops
Port Vila and Luganville have mains power and treated water. Outer-island guesthouses commonly run a generator for a few hours in the evening and collect rainwater, which means charging devices when the power is on and treating the supply as finite instead of assuming it.
Language for a visitor
English is widely spoken in Port Vila and Luganville, French in some areas, and Bislama everywhere. A dozen words of Bislama go a long way in a village: halo, tankiu tumas, wanem nem blong yu, mi no save. It is phonetic and easier than it looks.
Arrival, in order
Immigration, then baggage, then biosecurity, then the door. Bauerfield is small enough that the whole sequence takes twenty minutes on an ordinary day and rather longer when two aircraft land together. Taxis and transfers wait outside; agree the fare before getting in, and change money at the airport counter only for what is needed to reach town.
Two mistakes that cost money
The first is booking an international departure for the same day as an outer-island flight. The second is arriving without insurance that covers medical evacuation and cyclone-related cancellation, which are the two things most likely to go seriously wrong and the two most commonly excluded from basic policies.
A realistic first itinerary
Two nights in Port Vila on Efate with a day around the ring road. Two nights on Tanna for the volcano and a kastom village. Three or four on Santo for the wreck and the blue holes. A final night back in Port Vila before flying out, because the domestic leg cannot be trusted to connect. That is ten days and it does not feel rushed.
What to pack that people forget
Cash in small notes, because there is no ATM outside the two towns. Reef-safe sunscreen. A dry bag for boat transfers, which are open boats and get wet. Modest clothing for villages. A torch, since outer-island power is generator-based and stops. And insurance documentation that can be produced without a phone signal.
Respect, practically
Ask before photographing people. Ask before crossing land, swimming off a beach or walking a track — all of it is owned under customary title. Dress modestly away from resorts. Accept that a "no" to a request about ceremony or photography is a final answer and not an opening position.
The one thing that causes most problems
Treating the domestic flight schedule as a commitment. It is an intention, and building an itinerary with no slack in it is how people miss international departures.