VANUATU GALLERY
Vanuatu, formerly known as New Hebrides, was a major WWII staging area. Today it is one of the few remaining outposts of untouched Melanisian culture and because of its remoteness is likely to remain so despite Survivor Vanuatu.

Vanuatu is an archipelago that lies 1,500 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia and 500 miles west of Fiji. Getting there requires some planning. There are no direct flights from the US. We flew from New York to Los Angeles to Sydney, where we had a three day layover, then on to Port Vila, Vanuatu. Our dive trip ended in Espiritu Santo which meant a flight back to Port Vila and from there we reversed our initial itinerary.

The trip to Vanuatu, the first by the Nai'a was billed as 'exploratory' and so it was. Because prevailing winds had reversed for most of the trip, we dove the mostly unknown windward side sites. Picking a site often consisted of holding someone by the ankles as he or she took a look to judge if a particular spot was dive-worthy. Perhaps the most spectacular dives were on the President Coolidge, a WWII troop carrier tha on struck an American mine on October 26, 1942. Today, the President Coolidge is considered a 'must' wreck dive and is probably one of the best shore dives anywhere.

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