The most peaceful, perfect, off-grid retreat🏝️ Pele, Vanuatu

Let me introduce you to Pele, a picturesque island, with sandy beaches, crystal clear calm sea, friendly locals and basically private beaches.

It feels like you can’t get much more remote when already touching down in Port Vila, Vanuatu. But you’d be wrong. Vanuatu is made up of 83 islands and the expanse it covers is huge, so the capital Port Vila is actually very busy in comparison to other islands.

You have to go to Port Vila before getting the boat to Pele, so if you’re wondering what to eat on the main island check out my top gluten free tips in Vanuatu.

Luckily for you, you don’t have to travel that far from town to get a feel of remote paradise. Efate (the islands name where the capital Port Vila is) is surrounded by smaller islands… one of them being Pele.

The Journey and Accommodation

It’s under an hour drive to Emua Wharf from town, where you catch a boat, then just a 10 minute boat ride to the most picturesque island.

You can organise all of this through Vanuatu Tourism Office and look for the Island Bungalow stays. I stayed in Turtle Beach Bungalow, 2 bungalows next to each other with accommodation for 4, but have also stayed in Enoch’s and JJ’s which may be better for larger groups.

The bungalows are quite basic and don’t have electricity or running hot water, but this adds to the experience of island life and allows you to have a true feel of how people live here. It also is a proper escape, allowing you to reconnect with nature and relax.

The bungalow I stayed in was very rustic and had a double bed with mosquito net as well as a toilet inside (some do have an outhouse). It’s not far from the village (a 10 minute walk) but between you and the village it’s just uninhabited beach so really gives a feel of a private retreat.

Activities

Refreshingly, there‘s not much to do here, so come armed with a good book, some cards, reef shoes, something to swim in and potentially something warm to sit in as you gaze up at the milky way.

Once it‘s dark here, it’s dark. Which really does add to the excitement of Pele. There’s no lighting other than the (provided) torch/lamp. Card games and board games (which you should pack!) are fine to see with this light but it might be handy to bring a head torch to bring with you to the toilet. Of course, your phone will suffice too.

The sunsets here are unreal, on any given non-cloudy night you can see Venus unbelievably clearly, as well as multiple other constellations.

If you are looking for other activities to do, you can go for a walk down the beach, hike to the top of the island, tour the village and local school or taste some kava at the nakamal once it gets to about 4 o‘clock. If you’re interested in these things, just ask your host at the bungalow.

There are plenty of very friendly dogs here that will quickly adopt you as companions, even sleeping outside your bungalow. However, unless owned by the hosts, I’ve seen dogs owned by other people generally looked down upon if hanging around for food, so be wary of being too kind to unknown dogs as they may be shooed away if caught snooping around.

Food

Food wise, I recommend bringing some snacks and any drinks other than water that you want. Be mindful that there are no fridges or places to cook.

But otherwise, your host will arrange and cook all meals for you. Knowledge of the word gluten is almost non-existent, and coeliac even more so. Most island food is gluten free friendly, as it’s mostly root vegetables, roasted meat or fish and rice. However, soy sauce has a sneaky way of finding itself into things. For this reason, it’s best to just list things you can’t eat. I’d say you’d be best to ask for something with no sauce and to specifically mention no soy sauce, bread, Maggi sauce and sausages. Most sausages eaten here are hot dogs with wheat.

Alternatively, feel free to ask for something specific. Most hosts have rice and eggs (I recommend asking for eggs for breakfast), fresh vegetables and fruits from their gardens and potentially tinned fish. You can always bring a couple of cans of tuna and some rice cakes just in case like I did once.

The hosts are super friendly so don’t feel awkward to ask.

All meals are served outside, and at least here, it’s at the table on your bungalows balcony so that you can watch the night start to twinkle as you eat.

This is a truly magical little getaway, there’s not many places you can go to that can compare to the scenery or embodiment of natural living.

The beaches are sandy, the sea is calm, the surroundings are quiet. It feels like a once in a lifetime trip (although I’ve been 3 times).

If you’re heading to Vanuatu, I really do recommend you to check out the island of Pele! If you’re keen to see a LIVE volcano (literally spitting lava) then you also need to go to Tanna, in fact, I would say your trip to Vanuatu is not complete without it! see where to stay in Tanna here.

Thanks for reading all the way down here, if you do visit Pele then I’d love to see you enjoying it, share your experiences in my facebook page, tag me on Instagram or TikTok!