About Port Vila.

Port Vila is located around a magnificent natural harbour offering stunning views of Iririki and Ifira islands. It is Vanuatu's international gateway and remains the only town on the island of Efate. The airport is but a few miles from town and all major resorts and hotels. Vila is an interesting town. The Melanesian lifestyle is very relaxed and together with the influence of the French and English colonial period it has created a unique blend that is encapsulated in Port Vila. Clean and uncluttered, the waterfront area is so unpolluted, visitors are stunned to look down from the seawall and see live coral and tropical fish.

It's also fast becoming known as the gourmet capital of the South Pacific. The potpourri of expatriate cultures is reflected in food styles served in restaurants and cafes - French, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Melanesian and Mediterranean. You can buy an Aussie meat pie or American chilli dog, sip cappuccino in one of the many outdoor cafes or purchase pates and salads from a patisserie in a supermarket to fill your picnic hamper.  Best of all, Vila is a relatively safe and hassle free environment.

Efate is the main island of Vanuatu, where the capital Port Vila is situated and also where the majority of commerce and tourism takes place. Archaeological evidence in the form of distinctive pottery, indicates the first humans to settle in Efate were the Lapita people, probably from Papua New-Guinea via the Solomon islands. Oral history from Tongoa Island recalls the first arrival from the name Efate was effectively a comment on the island being a place where they would settle.

Cook was the first European to visit the island, naming it Sandwich Island after Lord Sandwich, the patron of his voyage. Fortunately the indigenous name prevailed. European settlement began with the whalers, sandalwood traders and missionaries. The first European settlement by predominantly English people was on Havana Harbour, on the north side of Efate. After a long drought in 1882, and persistent outbreaks of malaria and the simple fact that the French brought women to their settlement in Port Vila, led the predominantly male population of Havannah Harbour to permanently migrate to Vila. Today, over 40 000 people live on Efate, more than half of them in or around Port Vila. The rest live in small villages along the coast. No villages remain inland.

Efate has a rugged coastline and rolling verdant countryside, fast flowing rivers, cascading waterfalls, isolated sandy bays and lagoons. The interior is thick rain forest cut only by a few walking tracks to remote weather and radio beacons. Havannah Harbour on the north side is a spectacular natural haven and consequently used during World War II as a naval rear base by the entire U.S. 7th Fleet. It is also the site of some extraordinary archaeological digs and gruesome discoveries.

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