Hello Vanuatu

A few months ago, I came across a ‘great deal’ advertised in the travel section in the Sunday Paper. The deal offered a week in Vanuatu (flight and accommodation) at a very reasonable price. I love those deals, so I booked.

I have travelled since I was a child; packing is a breeze for me. I usually pack the night or day before I leave and I travel light. I have everything I need packed in light weight ‘packing cells’. The packing cells are stacked in my wardrobe and after a quick check or ‘adjustment’ if I am going on a diving holiday, I just place the cells in my bag… easy…however, my trusty dive bag that I’d had ‘forever’ had been damaged, destroyed on my last trip to India. Upon my return (with a tear in my eye) I disposed of it.

I baulked at the price of a new (same brand) dive bag and settled for another (well-known brand) dive bag. When my new bag arrived, I thought the bag ‘looked small’ however, I was busy and just dismissed the whole thing…well, I soon found out that my new bag was so small, it only just, only just held my (tropical) dive gear and nothing else…I mean nothing else. Horror descended over me like a blanket. I needed my dive gear and I needed some clothes.

I unzipped my packing cells and like a panicked mad woman stuffed 2 t-shirts, 1 pair of shorts, undies, thongs, 2 pairs of cossies and a sarong into any air space that I could find in that stupid bag. I then sat on the bag and zipped it up. My PJ’s, comb and toothbrush were relegated to my back-pack along with my phone, camera, book and cap.

I am travelling again in July, to the Solomon islands… and I need a new bag, so I’m just going to close my eyes and ‘click’ onto a new (exactly the same) bag as I had before….and bugger the price. The trip departed 5 days after Andrew and I returned from French Polynesia, just enough time to regroup, wash our clothes and organise our dive gear…easy…or so I thought.

 Andrew and I arrived in Port Vila in Vanuatu, booked into our hotel and high tailed it down to Nautilus Water Sports to book in our dives; Nautilus had been highly recommended by our pal Bob Staddon. Bob has dived with Nautilus many times, so we took his word as gospel. We soon booked 4 boat dives with an option for more.

“This grand old lady of sailing was built by Harlan and Wolff (of Titanic fame) in Belfast”

Our first dive was on the wreck of the Star of Russia. This grand old lady of sailing was built by Harlan and Wolff (of Titanic fame) in Belfast. In about 1953 she sank on her mooring in Pt Vila harbour. The Star of Russia sits up right in approx. 35 metres of water. Her hull is still intact and offers easy and safe penetration. Many of her features are still visible i.e anchor weighing equipment, main bollard, her 3 main masts and remains of her crows nest, not to mention the variety of fish life including a few cute nudibranches…a great dive.

We also dived on the wreck of the Konanda. The Konanda was an island trader and sits in approx. 26 metres. She was damaged in a cyclone and was deliberately sunk in 1987. She offers easy and safe penetration to her cabins and holds…again, a great fun dive.

 My favourite dives on this holiday were on the wreck of the Semle Federsen. The Semle was a trading vessel and at the end of her life was destined for the scrap heap. However in 1985, the Ports and Marine Dept. decided to sink her off Pango Cost to attract divers and fish life. In 1987 Cyclone Uma pushed her further down the reef and her stern, cabin and wheel house now lie in 40 meters. She offers easy and safe penetration with a limited bottom time. The biggest attraction of this strong old ship is the crystal clear water; the visibility is 40 meters plus.

 Although Andrew and I are dedicated wreck divers, we do enjoy reef diving as well. We dived the Twin Bommies, a site full of grottos that house a myriad of tropical fish life and sea creatures, Honeybone Reef, famous for the variety of soft corals and Konanda Wall. We also enjoyed a leisurely drift dive known as Twins Drift.

All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our week in Vanuatu, and a special shout out to the wonderful staff at Nautilus Water Sports. As I mentioned in a previous blog, opportunities can be acted upon or missed entirely. A chance search on the net offered Andrew an opportunity to photograph a crashed WW11 American Corsair Aircraft, now that proved an adventure not to be missed. Stay tuned for my next blog…

Until next time,