Vanuatu, The Last Paradise - Interview on Hideaway Island

Vanuatu is a place to know, to see and to feel.

We hope that our few blogs brought this miracle world a little bit closer to our followers.

To be even more involved in their life, we thought to make an interview with the managers of Hideaway Island Resort.

The managers are a wife and a husband, a great couple who are running the business there since 6 months, but they were visiting the island since years.

We were listening to them with big curiosity, it was a beautiful experience getting know them.

So, let’s see their opinions in some topics :)

When was your first time here on the island and since when do you manage the resort?

We have been managing Hideaway Island Resort & Marine Sanctuary for 6 months. We have been coming as guests since 1996. We have stayed for weeks at a time. We love Hideaway.

What was the most attractive thing for you here and what is the the most attractive activity in general?

Hideaway? We love the people here, we love the reef. Vanuatu? We love the people, we love the ocean. Mele Bay is great because so many activities are here. There is the marine sanctuary off Hideaway Island, Mele Cascades, the islands best waterfalls, the fire show at the Beach Bar, the jungle zip line, buggy tours, fishing, sailing, wet n wild adventure park, secret garden's mini museum and shisha bar, the kava house, the village....

Who are locals here, what is their main language? Are there any dialects?

Most people in Mele can speak English, and or French, Bishlama, the pidgeon spoke throughout the south pacific, and their own Mele Language. Every village has their own language, not dialects. Vanuatu has 113 languages for 250k people, the most languages per capita. We have been told it was useful to have different languages when fighting other villages.

We were walking in the villages and seeing how Vanuatu people are living... and we were in some small shops where we saw that prices are really high (just some basic things, but really high price) and just wondering how people can buy anything here, what do they eat and how they manage to earn some money for their living...?

The villagers don't have to work if they don't want to. The extensive gardens in the back of the village provide food, housing, medicine. If they want a better house or an iPhone they get a job. They are only, as a culture, just starting to want "stuff". Life will be harder for them with money. One chief we spoke to (another island) said he doesn't want money in his village. It brings poverty he says.

Any dangerous animals? Spiders, snakes, etc?

There are spiders and snakes here, nothing dangerous. The centipedes (painful, possible allergies) are mosquitoes (carry disease) are the worst things on land. In the ocean there are dangerous things, like jellyfish, urchins some venomous fish, cone shells (deadly) but as long as people don't touch things there is no danger. There are certain coasts in Vanuatu where shark attacks occur, but not here. In Mele Bay you are lucky to see one. They are few and very shy.

The underwater life is simply amazing here. We start each day jumping in the water and swim a bit with these beautiful fishes.

Have you ever seen dolphins, turtles or any other particular animals around the island?

There are spottings of dolphins, whales, and turtles in the bay, but we don't get a lot of them for various reasons. It's not deep enough for whales to spend much time, and there are no coves for the dolphins to sleep. There are dugong on the north shore (where there is lots of seagrass but lots of waves, hard to swim most places they are). The dugong and turtles don't come here much because we don't have large flats of sea grass and seaweed, their main food. Some of these turtles have been known to come into the bay and lay eggs. Turtles will always lay eggs at the same beach they were born, not matter how many hundreds of miles they roam. Some turtles eat jellyfish so they come in the bay once in a while. We get giant trevelly fish the size of humans. One likes to hang out by the bonza wreck. We have skates and rays, even manta rays at times.

We heart a lot that many corals are dying and many people don't take care of them. How do you see this? What do you propose to the people visiting these areas how to .... what do they have to take care?

The biggest thing people can do to protect the reef is to not stand on it, kick it with their fins, or touch it. Corals grow very slowly. Standing on them kills them. Kicking them breaks off the colony which usually dies. What is destroyed in a second can take decades to re-grow. We try to educate here but the signs are not good. We are working on ways to teach people how to care for the corals.

While there is a lot of talk about coral bleaching we see very little of it here. Our species are more adapted to warmer oceans and so they are less stressed as the temperature of the ocean rises. A much bigger threat to our reef is the crown-of-thorns seastar, a seastar that eats corals. They are very good at it. We have too many of them on our reef. We are currently hunting them and removing them. We turn them into fertilizer for our trees. A few have an important role in the reef ecosystem but too many just kill off too much coral. We are going to have public events to help control them. We offer the locals a bounty.

Another way people can help the ocean is to avoid pollution, particularly plastics, fishing line and gear, and balloons. Plastic bags and balloons look like jellyfish but will choke whatever sea creature swallows them. Plastics and fishing line are a leading cause of death for sea creatures.

It also matters what kind of sunscreen you use. Most have chemicals that can kill coral reefs. The safest ones to use are make with Zinc Oxide. All the other chemicals have been shown to damage coral and other reef life.

Richard, our Watersports Manager is a marine biologist and is actively looking for ways to protect our reef and educate the public. He is about to start a fish re-generation project.

Who is your target group?

Hideaway Island Resort and Marine Sanctuary looks for those who love coral reefs: divers, snorkelers, adventurers, and those looking to relax in a quiet tropical setting. People who love us are looking for fun, not fancy, for tranquility, beauty, and the smiles and love of the local people.

Do you have any special proposal, special season prices, offers and what is the capacity of the island?

A lot of dive groups and school groups come here, many come every single year. Some people come once or twice a year. We do have times when we are slow, like right after the New Year when schools start again and holidays are over. We have special rates for the low season and for the shoulder season (not quite as slow). We list the specials on our website and they are published with all the major online travel sites. We also have last minute deals for empty rooms. Until 30 June 2018 we are offering 35% off for example. We have over 80 beds total, and can house about 120 people overnight.

You have an amazing restaurant and bar. What is your meal speciality? What is your menu proposal when somebody is vegetarian or has any allergic?

Our specialty, for over 20 years, is our Coconut Curry. It comes as vegetarian, or with fish, chicken, or local organic-grassfed beef. It can be vegan on request (contains some cream.)

Although we have many good dishes on the menu now, we are working with Chef Yannik to improve the choices. We want more healthy choices, more local organic food, with more veggie options, choices for vegans, gluten-free options and so on.

Tell us few words about the programs offered by the island.

Houseguests have free access to the most of every water sport except for diving, free snorkel gear, kayak and paddleboard use, Glass Bottom Boat Tours, free Snorkel Safari to the Coral Gardens, volleyball/netball. These can be hired for day guests. We are looking at ways to offer educational tours of the marine sanctuary. I think that will happen soon.

Our dive center is a 5 Star PADI certified dive shop. We recently received our Green Star for our efforts in coral reef management and protection. We offer everything from a Discover Diving experience to Open Water Certifications, to advanced training such as Wreck Diving, Underwater Photography, Nitrox mixed gases etc.

Our 2 big cultural events are the weekly Melanesian Feast and the Village Walk. The Melanesian Feast features an authentic String Band from the village, Mele songs and dances, traditional foods cooked in underground ovens, and a chance to try Kava. Vanuatu has the best kava in the world. It originated here. The village walk is a guided tour with a member of our staff that is also a member of Mele village. It is a chance to see how the happiest village in the happiest country live. You can talk to the local villagers, play with the children, and truly see how they live. It is another chance to try kava.

We have just started a kitchen Kastom garden to grow food for the restaurant. Extra food will help feed the staff and their families. The goal is to use the kitchen waste and recycle it through composting to use to grow more food. Eventually this will include Island Garden tours with cooking and tasting opportunities.

We do charge an Island Entry fee. This is included with the cost of the stay for houseguests. This fee helps support efforts to protect the Marine Sanctuary, and proceeds help the village directly, if we make a profit or not.

We also run free movie night on the beach twice a week. I'm probably forgetting something but these are the highlights.

Can the island be a place to visit for people with wheelchair?

Stanley's parents visited us in October. His mom is in a wheelchair and his dad uses a walker. The boys just carried the wheelchair for his mom when needed. It's not ideal but it can be done.

Since 2 days we are feeling the effects of a cyclone called Hola cyclone.

What is the locals' opinion about the cyclone, do they sometimes feel any danger?

Do you have safety plan if anything happens?

After Pam the locals get very nervous around cyclones, but they don't panic or worry. They know how to prepare and they do. All villages have a cave, and or strong buildings to take shelter. They know what foods to gather and seem to be well prepared. They help each other.

We have emergency evacuation plans in place for any type of disaster we may have.

What do you propose to visit around and how? We saw local busses going around, tourist buses...

Like I said earlier there are many things to do just in Mele Bay. Some of the favorite things our guests like to do is trips to Tanna to see the volcano (day trip, or overnight), they like the Blue Lagoon on non-cruise ship days, the Congoola cruise and Turtle Reef tours in Havannah Harbour, day trips to Moso, Lelepa and Pele islands. There are eco-tours, either kayak, bicycle, or walking. Also popular is the Ekasup cultural tour, particularly with school groups.

Do you have any other comments, proposals, stories to tell and share with our followers?

Hideaway Island was originally known as Imere, the original location for Mele Village. Mele was a Polynesian settlement but over the centuries they have blended with Melanesians. They welcome everyone. They love to share cultures. When we needed to trim the big banyan tree in the middle of the island because it was growing over the roof of the dorm, an elder from the village had to walk around the tree and talk to it, get it's permission to cut it. The banyan tree, he said, is the "House of the Island." The village still comes over once a year to honour the Island and celebrate Imere Day. They all know by which fern the Shaman lived. It is still a part of their legacy and we are honoured to share it with the world. The village is happy to share as well.

We are just starting a "Shelter the Mamas" fundraiser, in conjunction with the Beach Bar, to help the Mamas on Mele Beach. They lost their roofs during cyclone Pam. The temporary tarps they have are worn out, offering little shelter from sun or rain. The money they make in their booths are the only income for many families. If anyone wants to donate please contact me at gm@hideaway.com.vu. The funds will be used to put beautiful new roofs on every Mamas booth on Mele Bay.

We are in the process of upgrading our website but keep an eye on it for specials and events. www.hideaway.com.vu We also have a Facebook page (Hideaway Island Resort and Marine Sanctuary) and Instagram (@hideawayisland)

We hope that you enjoyed our trip to Vanuatu and we hope to bring you back there soon ;)

Greetings from Australia,

Dori & Mike