What do you think of Port Vila?

[Bellamariya]

I have been reading some reviews on the South Pacific and have noticed that many people either love or hate Port Vila and there isn't much in between.

 

I first saw Port Vila on a cruise and loved it so much that when I got home I booked a holiday to come back for a longer visit. 5 1/2 years and a few visits later I moved here!

 

So what do you think of Port Vila and why?

[Fozwald]

Haven't been to Port Vila yet, but looking forward visiting on Carnival Spirit next May.

[cruisingsis]

Put me in the Love it camp. Have cruised there lots and stayed land based twice. The Ni Vanuatu people are lovely and the snorkelling at Hideaway is terrific. If I could have my time over I would live there too - somewhere up Devils Point with coral just past my door.

[Sweet on the sea]

Well I'm going in December, so I don't know yet. What do you love about the place? Is there any hints or tips or great places to shop that you can tell us about? :)

[icat2000]

I spent a week in Port Vila on a land base tour. Love it.

[Bellamariya]

What do I love?

 

Of course the people.

 

It's warm most of the year :)

The water temp is normally above 25 so I can dive all year.

Fresh air and organic food, eating seasonally and feeling healthy.

 

Hideaway, Cascades Waterfall, Lelepa Island, The Coongoola, The Goldwing, St Pauls Rock, Blue Lagoon, seeing the dugong surface in the harbour...this list will give me typers cramp if I keep going ;)

 

I actually do live on Devil's Point but at the beginning, at Blacksands Beach, and the sound of the surf sends me off to sleep every night.

[Sweet on the sea]

It sounds Idyllic, I'm looking forward to going there.:)

[karmac]

I love it too but haven't been since Oct 2009. Making sure our next cruise goes there. People often ask me what I love about it and I usually just say......"not sure, there's just something about it" lol. :)

Edited November 10, 2013 by karmac

[silverwillow]

Love it :)

[Kinkacruiser]

I immediately thought of the lovely people at the Ekasup village and our time there.

It's a better port than Luganville and Noumea in my opinion. I reserve "love" for Isle of Pines and Champagne Bay ;).

[Pushka]

We were there for a week a couple of years ago. It rained for most of it and was so cold I had to buy warmer clothing. The people are nice but the restaurant prices we found to be expensive for not great quality food. And travelling to the port after a cruise ship had just berthed, the taxi driver told us that security had to be in place as it was a Sunday and a shop was opened for the tourists. The people are very religious and this caused a lot of anger. And the taxi admitted they put the prices up when the ships were in, as does the waterfall admission.

 

Ive been told its beautiful when sunny and warm. I can imagine fabulous snorkelling. But sadly there are too many other places in the world to see and we aren't planning to revisit.

[MicCanberra]

I didn't think much of the port but out to the coral reef for snorkling or going inland for some hiking it was very nice scenery.:D

[Gerko]

Unless you're a beaches & water fan it's pretty boring after you've been there a couple of times. You asked about Vila remember, not Vanuatu. Downtown Port Vila has a couple of fair bars and not much more. Its pretty rundown and the roads and footpaths need lots of maintenance but thats not unusual for island towns. The taxis are often unsafe and their drivers ignore every road rule. I've been there half a dozen times by ship and run out of things to see so when I'm there again in Dec will probably risk my neck in a cab into town, wander through a few dutyfree stores and then sit and have a Tusker or two before heading back to the wharf. Don't get me wrong. It has an island charm about it and I like the place but at the end of the day it's a relatively small, hot and dusty island town.

[Bellamariya]

Some interesting comments :)

 

I agree the best of Vila is not in town, it's in the water and out in the undeveloped areas. Doing a round island drive takes you through some spectacular scenery and the beaches on the other side of the island are stunning, as is the Blue Lagoon.

Obviously I am a water and beaches person and love snorkelling and scuba diving :)

 

Restaurants here have changed a fair bit, my first long holiday here in 2007 I wasn't impressed, these days there is a technical college that turns out some pretty talented chefs and pastry chefs and the Salon Culinaire competition is held every year now and has really raised the bar when it comes to creativity.

 

Personally I have not yet found a place that raises it's prices when cruise ships come in and I can tell you that Cascades certainly doesn't. It charges 2000vt or $AU25 no matter what.

[Pushka]

Maybe you didn't speak to our taxi driver then.

[Bellamariya]

Maybe you didn't speak to our taxi driver then.

 

Haha probably!

I was talking to a local a few weeks ago though that said the same thing, when I asked 'who' was putting the prices up she told me of one woman that used to own a business in town and did that, somehow that seems to have become 'everyone' does it!

There has been a very big turnover of business owners in the last 3 years so maybe the new owners have more business sense than to do this :)

[challis]

The beach at that starts at the end of the pier were the ship berths looks so inviting,But a security guard tells you its all private property and you are not allowed to get onto the road that runs there.!!!

Has anyone got info. how to explore this lovely cove area?

 

the mad scramble as you exit for the shared taxis is big turn off-i just want to go for a walk ,but end up back onboard,as its got the best view of town, and bay

lovely people,sitting by fresh food market,under a coconut tree- listening to the local music,people watching.

[Bellamariya]

The beach at that starts at the end of the pier were the ship berths looks so inviting,But a security guard tells you its all private property and you are not allowed to get onto the road that runs there.!!!

Has anyone got info. how to explore this lovely cove area?

 

the mad scramble as you exit for the shared taxis is big turn off-i just want to go for a walk ,but end up back onboard,as its got the best view of town, and bay

lovely people,sitting by fresh food market,under a coconut tree- listening to the local music,people watching.

 

Not really sure which cove area you are referring to but if it is private property then there will be no way for you to explore it.

 

As for the taxi area, there is an alternative to get to town now, a small boat makes regular trips back and forth to the ship for a reasonable fee. Fast and scenic!

[bazzaw]

Bellamariya

 

I have been there twice - and am probably destined to go back as so many of the Aussie East coast departure cruises go there. So I seek some advice from you :)

 

The first time we went there , we only wandered around the town - and weren't very impressed. On the second time we took a quick trip across to Erakor and Iririki Resorts on their little ferries, just for a bit of a look around, we didn't use their facilities at all. We also got a taxi to the Cascades . This visit we enjoyed a lot more than the first

 

The P&O shore tours are always too little "value for money " for me. I don't mind spending money at all - but feel that I want value for it. So we have never done a P&O shore tour there. I might add that we have done many shore tours with P&O UK during our World cruise with them and also in the Mediterranean and Baltic areas with Cunard - we thought that these tours were good value. SO -- anyway!! What should we do next time??? Is there a way to experience Port Vila and it's surrounds other than to either do a ship's shore tour - or put you life into the hands of a Vila taxi driver. (I must admit to an aversion to taxis all around the World - even at home in Australia)

 

Barry

Edited November 20, 2013 by bazzaw

[thied]

we love it there is alot of ww2 history there as well

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

I have been there several times by ship only. Everytime we visit there we notice improvements to the town, shops etc.

We were only there a couple of weeks ago and it was good to see that the Police were checking every taxi to ensure it is carrying insurance to carry passengers. Apparently many didn't. Those that didn't were not permitted near the port to either pick up or even sneakly return with passengers. The Police were everywhere.

We did notice that the prices in the shops had markedly increased since our last visit a couple of years ago. Some clothing prices were a lot more expensive than Australia. The Duty Free shops are still value for money, however we did notice that Fung Wei (spelling) isn't the cheapest anymore. There's another one quite a lot cheaper.

 

It would be ashame if the shops priced themselves out of the market putting the tourists off spending their money when going ashore.

 

Love the friendliness there which seems to come naturally to those who live there. :) We always choose our Pacific Islands cruise to include Pt Vila.

Jill:)

Edited November 21, 2013 by Gold Coast Cruisers

[Bellamariya]

Bellamariya

 

I have been there twice - and am probably destined to go back as so many of the Aussie East coast departure cruises go there. So I seek some advice from you :)

 

The first time we went there , we only wandered around the town - and weren't very impressed. On the second time we took a quick trip across to Erakor and Iririki Resorts on their little ferries, just for a bit of a look around, we didn't use their facilities at all. We also got a taxi to the Cascades . This visit we enjoyed a lot more than the first

 

The P&O shore tours are always too little "value for money " for me. I don't mind spending money at all - but feel that I want value for it. So we have never done a P&O shore tour there. I might add that we have done many shore tours with P&O UK during our World cruise with them and also in the Mediterranean and Baltic areas with Cunard - we thought that these tours were good value. SO -- anyway!! What should we do next time??? Is there a way to experience Port Vila and it's surrounds other than to either do a ship's shore tour - or put you life into the hands of a Vila taxi driver. (I must admit to an aversion to taxis all around the World - even at home in Australia)

 

Barry

 

Hi Barry :)

I have also done a number of cruises to here and the first one we did a P&O shore tour, Intro to Diving. It sparked a passion that led us to come back!

 

Today there are a number of locally owned tour companies that offer alternatives to the cruise shore tours.

 

Evergreen is NiVanuatu owned and operated, they have a great range of tours including the round island.

Some of the others are Eco Tours, Melanesian Tours, Atmosphere, Noumea Shore Tours....I'm sure there are more, just google :)

 

They will meet you at the ship so you won't have to worry about transport to town or needing to use a taxi ;)

[joejoe 59]

I have been there several times by ship only. Everytime we visit there we notice improvements to the town, shops etc.

 

We were only there a couple of weeks ago and it was good to see that the Police were checking every taxi to ensure it is carrying insurance to carry passengers. Apparently many didn't. Those that didn't were not permitted near the port to either pick up or even sneakly return with passengers. The Police were everywhere.

 

We did notice that the prices in the shops had markedly increased since our last visit a couple of years ago. Some clothing prices were a lot more expensive than Australia. The Duty Free shops are still value for money, however we did notice that Fung Wei (spelling) isn't the cheapest anymore. There's another one quite a lot cheaper.

 

It would be ashame if the shops priced themselves out of the market putting the tourists off spending their money when going ashore.

 

Love the friendliness there which seems to come naturally to those who live there. :) We always choose our Pacific Islands cruise to include Pt Vila.

 

Jill:)

Hi Jill do you know the name of the cheaper duty free shop you mentioned :)

[Bellamariya]

Hi Jill do you know the name of the cheaper duty free shop you mentioned :)

 

All of the duty free stores will have specials so I would agree to checking them all out.

I don't think you can beat Fung Kwei on vodka as they regularly have Absolut in different flavours for about $14 a litre but all the others will also have t least one brand in their store that is the cheapest in town.

Sound Centre, Paris and Downtown would be the largest ones in the main street other than Fung Kwei.

[fishtaco]

I wasnt fussed with it!

 

I actually wouldn't go out of my way to re visit unless it was just another a ship stop.

 

If its not a small island in the south pacific like Wala then give me South East Asia any day:)

 

I am in a minority though as I like Noumea and would choose it over port vila:p