Espiritu Santo
hosts a wide variety of tourism adventures and experiences to enjoy
and places to stay, ranging from small island resorts to budget
and community style accommodation. Espiritu Santo is an “away
from the masses” experience so you can take the opportunity
to do as little or as much you need to in this unrushed region of
Vanuatu. It is truly one of the few places left where you can be
on a beach alone if you wish, dive or snorkel with a thousand colourful
fish, explore tribal and ritualistic cultural sites and follow it
up with dinner on a jetty overlooking the South Pacific, all in
the same day. The Espiritu Santo Tourism Association has developed
a website to ensure you have all the information you require to
make your Espiritu Santo experience unforgettable. Click here to
start your travels to Espiritu Santo.
A Brief History
An hours flight by light aircraft
north, this largest island of Vanuatu (4,010 km2) was named by De
Quiros in the 17th Century when he made a navigational error of
some thousands of miles in a vain attempt to find Australia.
Despite the passing of three centuries,
Santo's majestic beauty is little changed. World War II had the
first profound impact. It is perhaps best known as the inspiration
for James A. Michener's classic "Tales of the South Pacific".
During the course of the war,
over 100,000 allied troops and support staff were stationed here.
Amid the thick jungle there are remnants of crashed B17 bombers,
deserted Dakotas and Quonset huts. Many of the buildings in the
only town, Luganville, are old Quonset huts,with fences of upright
Marsden matting rusting away under a deluge of decorative vines.
Beneath the waves at Million Dollar
Point, divers can view the legacy of military evacuation, where
the U.S. forces dumped thousands of tons of war surplus prior to
returning home.
For SCUBA divers, Espiritu Santo
is the Mecca of the South Pacific. It is the final resting place
of the 22,000 ton liner turned troopship SS "President Coolidge"
and the destroyer USS "Tucker", both victims of US placed
mines. Fresh water cave diving is also becoming popular, with the
recent discovery of connecting sinkholes and caverns.
For travellers, the beauty of
Santo is unmatched. Stunning jewel-like islands lay just a few hundred
metres from coconut fringed beaches lined with powdery white sand.
Amazing blue water swimming holes are connected by underground caverns
and majestic mountains stretching from one end of the island to
the other. Awesome ravines shrouded in magnificent tropical rainforest
are home to jungle birds and beautiful orchids.
Inyeug is periodically visited
by several hundred tourists arriving on cruise ships, for it is
the famous "Mystery Island" , reached by launch from cruise
ships anchoring inside the magnificent turquoise waters between
Inyeug and the mainland.
Huge Kauri trees still grow in
the southwest mountain forests. In the north, Big Bay conservation
area, Vanuatu's first National Park is the first step to ensure
this beautiful island will remain pristine.
