Just a half-hour drive from Luganville is Velit Bay, a property set on 1600 acres in a horseshoe-shaped bay.
From the town of Luganville you drive along the coast road for around half an hour and when you see the sign, turn off and in front of you will be one of the best views in Santo. There’s turquoise water, white sand, coconut palms and lush green vegetation. Winding down the dirt road you just know you are heading towards something very special.
Unlike most other places we visited in Santo, Valit Bay isn’t owned by a local village but is owned by an Englishman who spends a few months of the year at the property. He is very interested in aviation and so it’s no surprise to find he keeps a small plane on the property.
Situated 15-degrees south of the equator, Velit Bay has a restaurant and bar centred right in front of the turquoise waters and it’s aptly named, 15-Degrees South.
Stepping into the restaurant is like stepping inside everything you imagined of a tropical paradise. The restaurant has been built sympathetically to the traditional style of Vanuatu and has rustic wooden tables and chairs, open walls to capture the view and the sea-breeze, a thatched roof and a white-sand floor.
The restaurant had come highly recommended. Shane from the Barrier Beach House told us we absolutely must spend a day at Velit Bay and enjoy the restaurant. He loves the restaurant so much that last year he booked it for his staff Christmas party and on occasion he and his wife have beetled around to the bay in their boat to enjoy a leisurely lunch.
Reportedly it is one of the best restaurants in Santo and when the owner is in residence he heads out in his boat and goes deep-sea fishing. He’ll bring back Wahoo, Mahi Mahi and tuna to turn into sashimi and other dishes.
I loved the presentation of the menu as it’s a wooden clipboard with burnt-edge pages held together with rope making you feel like you’ve been shipwrecked and with the then good fortune of being washed up on a deserted island. The menu contains a mixture of everyone’s favourites like BLT’s, sashimi, pastas, curries and Thai spring rolls. The prices are also very reasonable compared with other places we visited in Vanuatu. Like a nicoise salad for $17.00, beef sisig (a sizzling Filipino dish) for $20 or teriyaki noodles for $18.00. Not bad prices for Vanuatu and a more interesting menu too.
Unfortunately we were not able to be there for lunch but we did order a drink from the bar and then strolled down to the beach where we sat on the deck chairs and admired the view and took in the tranquil and serene scene.
If you visit Velit Bay for the day, there’s plenty to do besides wining and dining. Velit Bay has day activities including deep sea fishing, kite surfing, kayaking, beach volleyball, paddle boards, mountain hiking and snorkelling. You’re completely free to do as much or as little as you would like. We just rested and took in the view.
While a visit to Velit Bay is a genuine Vanuatu experience, it does have some Western touches. There is an amenities block that is refreshingly modern and clean with flushing toilets instead of the truly-genuine experience of a hole in the ground.
Want to stay for longer than a day? I know a lot of you are wondering what to do with that four million dollars you have lying around and so here’s your opportunity. Velit Bay is now on the market and comes with 1600 acres, a white-sand beach, several homes, a blue hole, a hanger for your plane, established vegetable gardens, a coconut plantation, cattle, the restaurant and bar and all that is tranquil and serene in an almost deserted tropical paradise.
But even if you can’t fly there in your private jet and complete the sale, you can, for just a few dollars, enjoy a day in paradise.
Velit Bay Plantation: Off the East Coast Road about half an hour from Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.
Four million sounds like a good deal. 🙂 I’ll take 2.
Oh yes you can’t beat a good clean amenity! There are some things we take for granted, and that is definitely one of them!
Love those deck chairs on the beach! Lovely, Charlie!
You guys sure packed plenty into your holiday – what a lovely place.
Sounds a little on the cheap side to me! Wow, that’s a rally long commute from the UK isn’t it. I agree the menu looks great – shame you couldn’t eat there.
I love how they have kept the setting and menu appropriate to the landscape. What a shame you couldn’t eat there but at least you took in the views.
Great views and looks like a menu worth exploring again when you can, of course you should arrive via your private plane…wink wink.. and stay for week, instead of an afternoon…wink wink. Nice post! Take Care
how fascinating. so the Englishman is selling up? a bargain for $4 mil! glad for you that it had amenities. i just can’t take holes in the ground etc.. a good clean loo is essential:)
Thanks for taking me away from cold and snowy Minnesota into this beautiful land of warmth and beaches and places like I’ve never seen. It’s been great and much cheaper than $4 million.
You guys are really having such a fun trip! So many interesting places. You don’t see that many restaurants with sand floors. 😉 Love Archie’s pose! Really fun post — thanks.
I repeat, “This looks like a perfect vacation. Just perfect.”
I could live on that beach, definitely want to soak in the sun 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hehe I bet everyone contemplates buying it and living there at some stage 🙂
It sure does look like paradise. I’m looking out the window at snow flurries and you had that spectacular view!
P.S. I tried to sign you up for my emails, but it said you were already subscribed. My thought is to check for it late on Friday afternoon (it will go out at 7AM on Sat morning here)—and if you don’t see it, check your spam. I think it will say it’s coming from my gmail acct. What a pain–so sorry! xo
Wow, I really enjoy the pictures…thanks for taking us along 🙂
What a beautiful beach and property!
Definitely a bargain indeed Charlie, what a shame I don’t have four million to spare 🙁 I really like the sand floor of the restaurant, it just seems so Gilligan’s Island! Xo
I want to go on holiday now.
have a super weekend Charlie.
🙂 Mandy xo
Will it be under water due to global warming? I wouldn’t want to spend my four million for water. 🙂 I love the sand floor in the restaurant and what a marvy place to live.