The perfect island holiday still exists. Here’s where.
As its national carrier falls into administration I’m left to wonder, why don’t more people go to Vanuatu? Closer than Bali and with to-die-for beaches it’s the best kept secret of the South Pacific.
Back when I was kid, everyone dreamed of one day taking “a tropical island holiday”.
You know the kind of thing I mean: deserted sandy beaches with hammocks between the palm trees. Melon for breakfast and fresh-caught fish for dinner. But do such holidays even exist anymore?
They do. We found exactly this experience at The Moso on Moso Island, Vanuatu. I’ll describe the resort in more detail in a moment – the story of how it came to be built on an island where the US military was stationed during World War II is fascinating – but first things first.
Did you know that Vanuatu is just two hours from Brisbane, and three from Sydney? True story. It’s much closer than Bali. Why don’t more people go? In part, because Vanuatu has been seen as the place cruise ships dock and they do so at Port Vila. Nobody is ever going to say, “You must go to Port Vila.” It’s fine, but should be a jumping-off point for the archipelago.
Now, we didn’t arrive by cruise ship. We flew into Port Vila. So much quicker, although the passport queue can be a little slow – it’s warm, so you’ll be fanning yourself with your arrival documents – but it’s fun working out what the signs in Bislama (the local pidgin) might mean:
Mi wantem go long maket
Can we go to the market?
Moso Island is accessible only by boat, but first you’ll need to take a short and bouncy drive in an air-conditioned van to the jetty. The roads are all appropriately potholed. You’ll see pigs and chickens. Kids come out of the jungle to wave, and there are plenty of men with metre-long machetes, walking barefoot by the road, which is all perfect, in terms of setting the mood.
From the jetty, it’s 10 minutes by boat to Moso Island, which has no big-chain hotels, no fast food, nobody selling trinkets. There are just a handful of resorts, among them The Moso. The owners, Joel Slattery and Antoun Jabbour, are from Sydney. They first visited Moso Island 10 years ago for a holiday. By their second visit, they were looked for a house, ending up signing a 75-year lease on some beachfront land, after entering into negotiations with the chief of a local tribe. They promised to bring jobs and infrastructure, and not mess the place up. For the first year they lived in a bungalow, with an outdoor kitchen and palm frond roof. They didn’t always have power, and bathing sometimes meant pouring a bucket of water over their heads. They couldn’t remember being happier.
Over time, they cut the jungle back to make a lovely, open space for their resort. In the 10 years since they’ve put sweat, tears, cash and their hearts into their little piece of paradise, working with the villagers to source labour, always conscious of their promise to enhance and not trash the joint.
The Moso is small – there are 10 lovely villas, with four more soon to open – so there can be no more than 20 or maybe 30 guests at any one time (you’ll see each other at breakfast and dinner, but otherwise you’ll have total privacy.) Upon arrival, you’ll find villagers waiting with cool drinks, and tropical flowers to place on your head. You’ll stroll from the jetty to the main pavilion, to check in. The pavilion, which is also the bistro and bar, is right on the beach; there’s a long timber table groaning with fruit. Formalities over, you can wander down to your villa – some are on the beachfront – or else do as we do, and hitch a ride up the hill on a quad bike. Our villa is at the top, and the design is perfect: plantation shutters, slow-turning ceiling fans, a sexy sunken lounge for key parties (kidding!). Your own private swimming pool. The view? Mountains. Jungle. Sea.
We are warned the temperature might drop in the evening but it is still warm enough to eat outside. Staff at the bistro are generally drawn from local villages and they come to your table barefoot, in loose, floral frocks. The menu is simple – yes, there’s plenty of local fish, pulled straight from the sea, but also a veal chop – and since Antoun has Lebanese heritage, you’ll find Middle Eastern treats too (this extends to breakfast, where you can get a shakshuka). After dinner, it is warm enough to take a moonlight swim in our private pool, and so we do.
Don’t set your alarm. In the morning, a rooster crows.
For breakfast, have the grapefruit. Also the eggs, which come from the local chickens. And don’t be surprised to find yourself turning to your fellow guests to say, “Have you tried the eggs?” With the widest eyes imaginable.
You can decide to do absolutely nothing while you’re at The Moso – they have plenty of books and magazines, cards, board games, and gin – or else they’ll organise activities for you.
On day one, we take an “eco-tour” to the extinct volcano on Nguna Island. We’re warned the 90-minute hike is tough and it absolutely is. But you’ll get great views into the crater when you get to the top, not to mention a sense of achievement.
Day two, we take a Moso Island Boat Tour. The guide takes you by boat into caves and grottos, then you jump in the water and snorkel around while sunlight cascades through cracks in the rock ceiling. We see an octopus and you’ll have no trouble finding Nemo.
After snorkelling, the guide drives our boat up onto a deserted beach – there are hundreds of them on Moso – for a Lebanese wrap bread lunch. On the way home we drop into one of the villages – Tassiriki – where we are introduced to the chief.
Day three: another deserted beach, this time by quad bike through the rainforest … and look, if the idea of finding one beautiful beach after another can’t convince you, here are some other small but near-perfect details about Vanuatu: you don’t need a visa. Or an adaptor! It’s all Australian power points, and appliances. There are no mosquitos (well, we don’t get bitten, despite dining al fresco morning noon and night). There is no hassling or haggling. Nobody will try to sell you anything or make you do anything.
On leaving, The Moso’s staff – they are more like a family to each other, you can see that – gather to wave our boat away, as they do for all guests. They are playing Leaving on a Jet Plane and you know how that ends don’t you? Don’t know when I’ll be back again. Same-same! Don’t know when – but go back again? In a heartbeat.
Checklist
Getting there: Virgin flies from Brisbane and Sydney; it’s between $400 and $1000 return.
Stay: The Moso’s Luxury Indulgence package (including seven nights’ accommodation, return transfers, a bottle of champagne, all meals, most drinks and a five-hour boat tour with picnic lunch, sunset drinks and a bonfire on a secluded beach) costs $4375 pp. The Moso Deluxe Hilltop Villa costs from $957 per night; Garden Villa from $380. themosovanuatu.com