Port Vila, Vanuatu, 12th and 13th December 2015

On arrival at Port Vila we could see a storm moving over the other side of the harbour so we delayed leaving the ship by about an hour as we didn't have a tour booked.
We had decided to go to Hideaway Island resort and use their facilities and snorkel. To get to the island I had intended to negotiate a water taxi, however the land based taxi and bus drivers were lined up about 6 deep at the gate all trying to get our business. I randomly picked one who had a taxi uniform shirt and negotiated a fee for the return fare to Mele where the boat leaves from. The trip took about 30 minutes and we paid him the single fare and arranged to have him pick us up about 3 hours later.

The boat trip to Hideaway is free and takes about 5 minutes. The fee to use the island is $15 AUD each. 

The snorkeling was even better here. The water is deeper, but the coral is growing only about 20 meters from the edge. You can swim over the coral or follow the edges. The amount of different species was amazing and we all really enjoyed our time here. We would definitely return if coming back to Port Vila.

We stayed and had lunch at the Hideaway beach bar. Burgers and fish and chips, cold soft drinks and sample of the local brew for my husband. 

Local brew - Tusker

Fortunately the weather held for us and returning to the main land we had a brief browse at the markets before meeting our taxi driver and returning to the ship.

The second day we caught a water taxi ($5 person flat fee) to the center of town for some duty free and a visit to the chemist as I had developed a sore throat.

We had a good look around before returning to the ship for a late lunch.

We noticed that there are still a lot of damaged boats left from Cyclone Pam.