Dive into Vanuatu

As scuba diving season in Vanuatu draws near, it's time to start planning your adventure. After all, with the best time to dive in Vanuatu occurring from April to October, there's a pretty big window of opportunity to explore the Pacific waters. During this time of year, conditions are usually calm, clear and pleasantly warm. Regardless of your skill level or experience, there are a fantastic range of Vanuatu diving sites to enjoy including colourful coral reefs, wreck dives and the famous President Coolidge dive off the island of Espiritu Santo.

Some of Vanuatu's other great dive sites include the sheer wall 'bombora' formations of the Twin Bombies, the colourful fish of the 6-15m Fila Island Reef dive, the fascinating honeycombing tunnels and reef of Lacksands Reef and Caves, the vertical wall and shallow reef dive of Mele Bay's Mele Reef, the Pango peninsula's 'chimney' and shafted light of the Cathedral and the large bommie off Hideaway Island known as Ollies Lolly.

There's also the wonderful wreck dive of Konanda, a 45m long Island Trader damaged by a cyclone in 1987 and sunk to 26m for the pleasure of scuba divers. A fun wreck dive with rigging and derricks that reach within 10m of the surface, the holds and cabins are also safe for penetration. Another popular wreck dive is the Star of Russia, a grand of sailing ship measuring 80m long, 13m wide and 33m below. You can swim through the body and up the masts of the ship as well as check out the bow, wheel, rudder and anchor machinery.

There's also the unique Tasman dive, the wreck of a Qantas S26 Sandringham Flying Boat, a bulky plane with a wingspan in excess of 30m. Plan for at least a 40m dive and explore the wreck from the tail, over the body, the nose and then climb through the cockpit window to the other side. There's also the cargo vessel of the Semle Federsen off the Pango Coast in Mele Bay and the Tukutuku Caverms across the bay from Pangona, just under half an hour from Vaughani Shores.

(21st February 2014)