Diving Efate With Big Blue Vanuatu
Tara Cooney, SWJ Editor diving West Side Story in Efate, Vanuatu
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After weeks spent snorkelling the reefs of Fiji’s Yasawa Islands, I was pretty keen to blow bubbles underwater again. With a week ashore on Efate between crewing boats, a double dive with Big Blue Vanuatu was an opportunity I wasn’t going to pass up. I was super excited to see what Vanuatu had to offer underwater.
While it’s been quite (quite) some time since I qualified as a PADI Instructor at 19 and worked in a dive store, my old instructor brain is still active with diving centres I visit quietly noticing how an operation is run…a habit I’ve tried to kill but when you’re trusting a lot of factors to keep you alive at depth, it’s kinda important.
Big Blue Vanuatu had it all covered.
Before We Hit the Water
A warm welcome from experienced divers in the Big Blue Vanuatu team
Communication before the dive was excellent. They were quick on email and everything was sorted through a couple of online waivers and an easy upload of my dive certification. It meant I turned up on the morning with no paperwork to do — already signed off!
All the staff were super friendly and being kitted up was easy. I’d brought my own mask and fins but used one of their shorty wetsuits, along with a hire BCD and regs. Everything was clean, well maintained and organised.
7am iced coffee hit OH YES
TIP: There’s a great cafe right next door — so if you turn up early like me (or need a coffee fix post-dive) - this is a great place to relax until the boat’s ready to board.
The whole team operation felt efficient but relaxed, with a welcoming Vanuatu vibe.
Initially we thought we might be able to dive the Cathedral, one of Efate’s most desirable dive sites, but the southeast wind had picked up and the morning weather assessment put the kibosh on that idea.
I actually liked this decision. It’s reassuring when a dive operator is perfectly happy to make the tough call, not today. The Cathedral is very weather dependent, and Big Blue Vanuatu has plenty of sites around Port Vila, Mele Bay and Pango to choose from, so instead we lined up Bonzer Wreck and West Side Story.
We all piled into Tramp, one of their five-metre fibreglass banana boats, and off we went. After months slowly sailing around, I loved the speed of the 50hp engine zooming us across the sea, salt spray flying!
I buddied up with another New Zealander for the dives (awesome Kiwis seem to crop up on most of my adventures overseas!). She’d already been diving with the Big Blue Vanuatu team for a week and was having a ball.
Dive One: The Bonzer Wreck
The Bonzer Wreck was sunk in 2001 and sits upright in 24m / 79ft
The stern of the Bonzer
Almost fully functional head — loo paper’s a bit wet though
We had great fun exploring the Bonzer
Our first dive was Bonzer Wreck and as my Aussie half would say it was ‘bloody bonza’!
The Bonzer is a small freighter deliberately scuttled to sit upright on the bottom near Hideaway Island. Now it’s an artificial reef. And you can’t beat exploring a fully intact wreck to bring out your inner-child delight for treasure hunting and discovery!
Vanuatu offers brilliant water clarity and the whole wreck is visible on approach with plenty to look at and explore. We swam into the wheelhouse, poked around the bridge and found the toilet still sitting in the head.
It was a great first dive. And I’m grateful Kolen threw in extra spare weights — I jumped in the water and on descent attempt No.1 knew straight away I’d need a couple more and stashed a couple in my BCD pockets!
My dive was 29 minutes with a maximum depth of 23 metres.
But it wasn’t just the wreck that made this one good.
Nearby, on top of a large coral bommie, is one of Vanuatu’s largest anemone gardens. I’ve never seen so many anemonefish in one place! Hovering there watching the clownfish dart about was absolute magic.
Friendly little Clownfish / Anemone fish
Tip: Tap your regulator a couple of times and their curiosity gets the better of them — they’ll come right up to your mask before ducking away.
After spending so much time snorkelling through Fiji, I loved breathing underwater again. It’s brilliant to be able to stay longer and in the moment with the fish, and not head for the surface just as it’s getting good!
I was possibly…ok definitely…a little overexcited about it.
My air supply dropped considerably faster than I would have liked on that first dive while I settled back into life at depth. There were a few laughs when we surfaced (I got the Air Pig wooden spoon) and I vowed to do much better on dive number two.
If I could have a superpower - it’d be to breath underwater
Surface Interval, Island Style
A boatload of good fun
For our surface interval we tied up to a sheltered mooring off the beach bar around the corner from Hideaway Island.
Our topside captain and crew Jayson served up fresh papaya, biscuits, tea and coffee, which were promptly wolfed down while we yarned about the first dive, and where we’d all come from.
By this point everyone was well acquainted and there was plenty of banter going around the boat.
Then it was gear back on and time for round two.
Dive Two: West Side Story
Vanessa and I — all the photography is courtesy of her Insta360 cam!
Our second dive was West Side Story, over on the Mele side of the bay.
And this one was also awesome (I should not be surprised).
The reef comes to within around six metres of the surface before dropping away beyond 30 metres, all kinds of hard and soft corals running down the reef.
There was just so much going on.
Stacks and layers of coral, mushroom corals, table corals with huge schools of colourful reef fish moving above and around it all. We glided over the hugest fields of staghorn coral I’ve ever seen.
We spotted giant clams and crayfish tucked into the reef, with anemones scattered amongst the coral and clouds of little damselfish hovering above it.
And yes, my air consumption was considerably better this time. Dive time 43mins at 16m.
I’d settled back into my mermaid life underwater.
Kolen was a fantastic guide. He kept a watchful eye on us and pointed out some cool species we may have missed. I also haven’t laughed so much underwater in a long time.
Is Big Blue Vanuatu Worth Diving With?
The double OK for Big Blue Vanuatu
We were back at Big Blue by around lunchtime, which made the whole thing such an easy way to spend a morning while staying on Efate.
And I think that’s particularly good for cruisers, who want a break from the boat.
If you’ve sailed into Port Vila, there’s some excellent diving sitting right on your doorstep. Big Blue Vanuatu has a whole range of sites around Efate, from reefs and wrecks to drop-offs and caverns, so there are options for different experience levels and different weather conditions.
Having been involved in diving myself, there are also a few things I particularly appreciated about how the morning was run.
Communication was excellent. The hire gear was clean and well maintained. Everything happened efficiently without feeling rushed. Kolen and Jayson took good care of us, and gave great briefings. And they picked the right spots based on the conditions of the day.
Most importantly, everyone from start to finish was friendly, and even as a solo traveller it was fun.
It’s that last part that makes you want to do it again.
In Summary
Don’t pass up the opportunity to get underwater while you’re in Vanuatu.
We had two completely different dives within easy reach of Port Vila — one exploring a wreck and its enormous anemone garden, followed by a second amongst the coral and reef life at West Side Story.
For me, it was also a very good reminder of how much I love diving.
And I’ll definitely be jumped in again sooner rather than later.
Big Blue Vanuatu
Location: On the Seawall, Downtown Port Vila, Vanuatu
Phone: +678 554 4054
Email:dive@bigbluevanuatu.com
Website:bigbluevanuatu.com
Big Blue Vanuatu hosted Saltwater Journal for this double-dive experience. As always, the experience and opinions shared here are my own. And a huge thank you to fellow diver Vanessa Schmitz for her underwater photography in this article.
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