While we were in Vanuatu the land diving was taking place on Pentecost island. The land diving ceremonies only happen for a few weeks a year, so we were fortunate to be in the country while it was happening. We decided to take the tour on our last day of our trip.
We took a tour from Port Vila that went to Pentecost Island for the land diving, then we had lunch on Epi Island finished with some snorkelling before heading back to Port Vila.
The flight to Pentecost was fun. It was an old plane, but I got to sit shotgun so I had a great view of the area we were flying over. It was too cloudy to see Lopevi Volcano but we were lucky and got to see a great view of Marum and Benbo volcanoes on Ambrym island. Our pilot said it was rare to get to see those volcanos and I knew he was serious when he pulled out his phone to take pictures!
After the short flight we arrived on Pentecost. There were three planes on tour to see the land diving, so there were a couple of trucks waiting at the airport to take us to the event location. We piled into the back of the trucks and enjoyed the lush greenery along the bumpy “road” to the tower.
Land diving is the predecessor to bungee jumping. Young men within the tribe jump off wooden platforms with vines wrapped around their ankles. When we arrived there were seven platforms at different heights up the tower. The younger boys jump off the lower platforms and work their way to the higher platforms as they get older.
The jumpers climb the tower and there are other men at the different heights there to help tie the vines around their ankles. When the jumpers are ready they walk to the end of the platform. Other tribe members stand at the base of the tower chanting and clapping as the jumper prepares. Once the jumper is in position and ready to “dive” the men on the tower cut a rope which causes the platform to fall and the jumper dives out from the tower. The tower is built on a slope so the jumper has a bit of clearance from the ground when the jump outwards and then the vine drags them back towards the tower.
The tower structure itself is very impressive. The tower is nothing more than tree trucks tied together with vines. The design of the platforms and the mechanism of cutting the rope to drop the platform is very clever.
The dive is a bit nerve-wracking to watch. The chanting and clapping that builds up the dive, then the sound of the rope being cut and the platform breaking, all before the thud of the diver hitting the ground. We were lucky to view the ceremony and it is something we won’t forget.
After the land diving we got back on the plane to head to Epi Island. The tour included lunch and snorkelling. The island is known for dugongs, but we didn’t see any.
After snorkelling we flew back to Port Vila. Unfortunately, we booked our resort on Efate island before booking the Pentecost tour. Our resort was on the other side of the island, about an hour away from the airport. We spent most of our time on Efate driving, but at least we got to see a bit of the island during our drive. I can’t say much for the activities and sites on the island, but the restaurant in Port Vila on the first night was good and the resort we stayed out was very nice.