Kneeboard Surfing USA Community Forum

hi guys

im off to vanuatu last week of august

im staying at a resort called "Breaka's"
apparently there is surf right out front of the resort....plus further out on the reef
i dont know a lot about the place...i'll bring back some pics i hope
but if anyone has any info... or if there at same time wants to meet up... anything will help....maybe someone has been ther already

thanx

tony

try this address for some tempting surf shots
http://www.breakas.com/surfing.html

tony

I spent about 3 weeks in Vanuatu in May/June 2000. Most of that time on Efate island, the main island of Vanuatu, with some time on Tanna, one of Vanuatu’s many outer islands.

Although Vanuatu does get good surf, if you are staying/surfing the south shore the problem is that the swell window is exceedingly narrow and all those spots are adversely affected by the Trade Winds as well. I understand that some of the northern islands have some great waves but they are hard to access unless you are on a yacht. Vanuatu is a favorite place for Australians to vacation (an Aussie cruise ship pulled into port while I was there), many of whom also live and work there. In fact, there were a few expat Aussie and Kiwi surfers when I was there but for some reason none of them seemed too friendly or talkative. There are also a few native surfers as well, so take some give-away stuff like leashes, rash guards, wax, etc., to make friends and help them out (all of their equipment was in pretty bad shape).

I checked out the Breaka’s website but I couldn’t pinpoint its exact location, so I am hazarding a guess here that it is located in Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capitol. There is a Surf Report for Efate (Vol. 19 #3) which lists over 30 spots ringing Efate alone! Have you checked it out? I surfed in the Pango region, which is just south of Port Vila. Although conditions were OK to merely marginal while I was there I could definitely see the potential. Actually the first day I checked it out it was head high and glassy, but I was alone and scoping the place out for the first time so I didn’t have my board with me that day. When I returned the next morning conditions had deteriorated somewhat and continued to do so over the next few days as the Trade Winds came back and the swell all but disappeared.

I may have surfed the left depicted on the Breaka’s website but only at maybe about half the size shown. I have a postcard I bought in Port Vila with an intense wave ala Cloudbreak/Teahupo’o at that spot (a local there told me it was taken during a cyclone swell). It is directly in front of Pango village. A very intense, fast, hollow wave that gets really shallow at the end. There is also a right within paddling distance of the left that was pretty good while it lasted. I was told that cyclone swells are best but I really wouldn’t want to be in Vanuatu when a cyclone strikes. But August is not a typical month for cyclones in that region so you should be safe in that regard. Of course that also means the surf will most likely be flat but then again you may get lucky. August is still Trade Wind season so that will also be a problem if you are surfing south facing breaks. In that case you will want to hit it as early in the morning as possible.

When the winds finally calmed down there was no swell. I mean it was flat! That was when I took off for Tanna island.

When I came back from Tanna I took a one-day tour of Efate island and was able to check out a few other spots then but the tour was for general tourists and the Trades were back up so I really wasn’t able to discern much from that tour. Anyway to really access those spots would have required renting a car (actually you really need a four wheel drive vehicle) and I was by myself and couldn’t afford such a venture. But take the day-tour if you get the chance, it is definitely worth it just to see the rest of the island.

Vanuatu is quite beautiful and there is a lot to do and see there besides surf. Try to get away from the resort and out on your own at some point. Check out Cascades Waterfall and also Hideaway Island, both easily accessed from Port Vila. Hideaway Island has great snorkeling with profuse numbers of tame resident fish which will swim near and around you in great swirling clouds! Obviously no spear fishing is allowed there but if there were, well…

So despite the surf (or the lack thereof) Vanuatu was an extremely fascinating place and I had an unforgettable experience. There are some places in the South Pacific I have been to but have absolutely no desire to ever go back to (e.g., Tonga) but Vanuatu is definitely on my list of places for a return visit! Not only is there plenty to see and do but the ni-Vanuatu (native peoples) are super cool and extremely friendly (by way of contrast, the Tongans all seemed rather sullen about something. Maybe they‘re just pissed off living under a decrepit and corrupt monarchy).

A few additional items/warnings: Although you can find relatively low-cost accommodations in Port Vila in the form of backpacker type hostels, food and drink is a bit more expensive in comparison to other places in the South Pacific such as Fiji or Samoa, so watch your money. Their currency is the Vatu, which is the equivalent of the US penny! In other words, they do not use dollars and cents and a price that we would list as say $8.95, they would list as 895 Vatu. I think they do it that way to avoid any kind of confusion over prices, conversions, etc.

Also be real careful about what you eat there. If you stick to the resort’s food you should be OK, but if you get out and about well, let’s just say that their food preparation and hygiene standards are quite suspect at best. The first week I was there I got sicker than I have ever been in my life from some kind of intestinal illness. I was totally laid up for 2-3 days and it took me over a week to fully recover. As usual in such cases the exact cause of the illness (the culprit food) was hard to pinpoint exactly but I think it was due to a quiche (Vanuatu has a significant French influence) I ate one for lunch after I had been surfing. It had probably been sitting out un-refrigerated in the tropical heat and sun all morning. I didn’t realize it contained fish until I bit into it and, although I had asked for a plain quiche I was really hungry at that point and so just ate it anyway. It tasted OK but was probably contaminated with bacteria and/or histamines (the natural by-products of the fish’s flesh as it breaks down which will make you even sicker than most any bacterial contamination).

Vanuatu does have malaria, although in the Port Vila area itself it is not too much of a problem so protect yourself from mosquitoes and you should be OK in that regard.

But watch out for the local kava. It is extremely intense. Some say that it is the strongest anywhere in the South Pacific and I can vouch for that. They mix it up to the consistency of a very thick syrup that is difficult to swallow but it definitely does the trick! The local beer, Tuskers, is also pretty good and helps wash down the thick kava. The combination of the two will definitely mean lights out for the night! There are numerous kava bars, called nagamal, in Port Vila. Costs something like 50 vatu a bowl and 2 or 3 bowls will do you in.

Vanuatu is also an extremely active area volcanically and is reported to have the highest geographical concentration of active volcanoes in the world. The highlight of my trip to Vanuatu was when I went to Tanna island and climbed Mt. Yasur, the world’s most accessible volcano (in fact one of the main reasons I went to Vanuatu was to do just that, climb and look down into a volcano). Even so it still took a full day of traveling over rough dirt roads, hiking across a bizarre lava ash plain and up the side of a 1000 foot volcanic cone on a rough and rocky trail to get there, but it was well worth it. To look straight down into the fiery bowels of the earth and feel the ground tremble as red-hot lava rocks the size of VW buses shot out hundreds of feet into the air, explode as they hit the ground and rolled back into the fiery crater was a truly incredible experience! Apparently a Japanese tourist along with two native guides had been killed a couple years earlier when a sudden eruption caught them in the wrong place at the wrong time so this is definitely not for the feint-hearted! But if you get a chance to visit one of Vanuatu’s many volcanoes (I don’t think there are any on Efate island, none that are easily accessed anyway) definitely do so because it is well worth all the expense and hassle to do so and an experience you will remember for the rest of your life.

Another interesting side note: I ran into a fellow kneelo in Vanuatu who was also from San Diego and was riding a board made by Rich Pavel, a protégé of Steve Lis. Although I only had my Blast with me in Vanuatu I also have a Pavel board. Anyway I forget that kneelo’s name but he seemed rather eccentric (aren’t all kneelos?). When I met him we made plans to hook up and go surfing the next day. I was to meet him at his hotel that morning but when I got there (about 6:15), wouldn’t you know it but he had already taken off on his own (his brother, a non-kneelo was still there). I was, to say the least, a bit perturbed and felt quite bummed out as well as burned! I mean after all, here we were, fellow kneelos who just happened to show up together in a strange 3rd world country (that neither of us knew much about surfwise) so you’d think he would wait at least a few minutes for me but apparently he just couldn’t get out of his western mind-set (he had said he would leave at 6 am sharp!). Although I did drop by his hotel the next day to see how he had made out, needless to say we never did hook up again after that as he had a schedule to keep and I lost my enthusiasm for any such ventures (I was traveling alone and my motto on the road had been “rely on no one”! Once again I was proved correct in that belief).

Anyway good luck in Vanuatu, I’m sure you will have a great trip regardless of the surf!

hey Bryan
wow
what a lovely place
the resort we stayed at has been built at Pango where you can see the surf from the road at the small point on the way to Pango pt
a nice little left hander though the locals there would take a right on occassions but i kept to the lefts
because of the time i was there it wasnt the best time for good swells but for a tourist i feel i did ok in the 10 days i had there
the funniest thing was one day when sitting out waiting for the sets to come a third guy paddled out and it was another kneelo
from the 20 or so local surfers one is a kneelo....i was stoked
we had a good chat and hopfully he'll look up this site and get some of the stoke and great vibes that radiate out of this site
(hey Andre if you make it here.....it was a buzz surfing with you way out on that tiny island in the south west pacific)

ill leave a couple of pic below

cheers
tony

this one would be the size of the best we had all week and is a friend Peter i made whilst overthere (excuse the standup)

Hey Tony -
Looks like you had fun.
See you at the next comp.

I AM GOING TO BE BACK IN VANUATU FOR 2 WEEKS IN END OF OCTOBER / BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER
IF ANYONE IN THE AREA LET ME KNOW AND WE CAN HOOK UP

CHEERS
TONY

PS ... PICS ABOVE

going back again next week to finalise buying one of the fare's for investment
Any one in the area from Monday the 7th till the 16th let me know and we can hook up for a surf
cheers
Tony

hey tony
is that joint any good to take my lady with me
steeno


i just checked the link....looks ok

I may be getting dragged there in November with my lady friend and her extended family. I wasn't that keen, but with the possibility of there being surf i'm now having second thoughts! I spose i'd have to get up for the early each day to stay on their good side and before the wind.

try the green vanuatu kava i hear it makes your faded for days

DONT DO IT!!,,,,...DONT DRINK THE GREEN KAVA!!!!!

http://www.nakamalathome.com/Kava/Kava/Kava_in_Tanna/

shame on you kava for playing such a bad joke.....funny as it is disgusting.

wouldn't you hate being the village virgin!...what a job!

hey Steen
You lady will love it
The resort is for over 15s ... no kids ... can be very intimate
Plus the possibility of surf is a huge plus
go to www.breakas.com
the usually have a 6 nights & pay for 5 or 11 for 9 deals
it is only just over3 hours from Sydney and Air Vanuatu is the better airline in conjunction with Qantas
Go for it matee
cheers
Tony

couldn't find rates
what price packages are there?