Page 401 - Melanesia
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TANNA

Only a 45 minute flight from Vanuatu’s                 the year. If you visit on a Friday you can see the
       capital Port Vila, Tanna Island is the perfect  bizarre weekly ceremony held by the John Frum
location for travelers wanting to get a real feel      Cargo Cult – members believe that mimicking
for the culture and natural beauty of Vanuatu.         flag raising and marching in unison will lead
There is a lot to see and do in Tanna: snorkel and     to the magical delivery of cargo such as radios,
dive in underwater caves and some of the best          jeeps, fridges and other items that made their
coral reefs in the South Pacific, visit untouched      way to the country during World War 2.
waterfalls, see the island’s wild horses and ex-
perience an ancient culture that remains largely       Diving is a recent addition to Tanna, with
unchanged to this day. Tanna is best known                    Volcano Island Divers opening in 2015.
as the home to one of Vanuatu’s most popular           This has unlocked opportunities of world class
tourist attractions, the Mount Yasur volcano. This     snorkeling and diving around the beautiful
is one of the world’s most accessible volcanos         island which offer dramatic marine landscapes
as you can walk right to the crater rim. When          such as blue water caves, reef walls and drop offs
the light starts to fade you can see the hot rock      and a myriad of underwater life including white
spitting from the volcano, which provides great        tip sharks, schools of fusaliers and drummer,
photo opportunities! Although you can do a day         anemone fish, green sea turtles, pelagics, tuna
trip from Port Vila to Tanna, we recommend stay-       and a resident dugong! One of the more popular
ing the night so you can see this sight. The local     dive sites is the Blue hole. This is made up of
culture of Tanna is surprisingly unaffected by the     three different sink holes that are inter-connect
western way of life. You can tour a local village      via swim-through caverns.
and observe custom ceremonies throughout
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