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Scintillating Santo

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Espiritu Santo, (or just Santo, as the locals call it), is the largest island in Vanuatu.  There is an incredible amount of history from WWII museums, relics, dive sites, the sunken SS President Coolidge cruise liner, Million Dollar point, to planes and ships on the beaches and in the sea.  In addition, there are some of the most beautiful sites you will ever see including the stunning blue holes, Champagne Beach, and Port Orly.

We start off at Oyster Bay Lagoon located inside Peterson Bay (east side of Santo).  Our goal here was to visit the two beautiful blue holes: Riri Blue Hole and Matevulu Blue Hole.  Absolutely, one of the most stunning experiences we have had!

Hog Harbor

There are two bays inside Hog Harbor.  We anchor at Lonnoc Beach because it offered better protection from the winds and swell.  We drop the hook in beautiful clear blue water in between some bommies and overlook the pretty beach.  There are three small “resorts” onshore.  The one on the far left is closed (probably because the local airline is debunk and no guests can get here).  The middle resort is the largest and most well known, Lonnoc Eco Beach Bungalows. And the one on the far right is Lonnoc Beach Lodge.  These two locations offered restaurant, bar, trash disposal and laundry services to yachties.  They too were vacant but employees were around.

In front of the Lonnoc Eco Beach Bungalows is a WWII barge that washed ashore.  It now has several trees growing out of the center of it.

The second bay in Hog Harbor, which is far more popular, is Champagne Beach.  This is one of Vanuatu’s most beautiful beaches and is visited by cruise ships and tourists from all over the world. The beach is covered in a super soft, pure white sand and the waters are crystal clear turquoise.  Absolutely a stunning beach so we had to enjoy some champagne while on champagne beach! 

Port Orly

Our next stop in Santo is Port Orly.  We could see from the satellite charts that it was a really beautiful spot.  The super soft sandy beaches had beautiful overhanging pam trees.  The water is so clear that you can see to the bottom in 12 meters!  We cozied up to a little eatery and enjoyed a few lunches as we admired this stunning view.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind live events.  We visited Santo from mid-to-late August. We thoroughly enjoy a special performance of Vanuatu’s Bamboo Pipe Drum Band which was an epic performance (check out the post). 

Vanuatu Bamboo Pipe Drums

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There were rumors of a few islands that put on musical performances playing bamboo pipe drums.  We saw a video and it quickly got on our list as a “must do item” in Vanuatu.  The problem was we were not sure which anchorage or island played this unusual performance.

We decided to have a nice dinner one night while we were anchored at Peterson Bay, Santo Island.  We headed to Turtle Bay Resort which is a lovely resort, with super delicious food and reasonable prices.   To our surprise they had a band playing so we sat back, enjoyed our dinner, and awaited the mystery band.

Imagine our joy when 11 men came in carrying bamboo pipe drums followed by 4 female dancers!  Sweet as!!!!!

Bamboo Pipes

Bamboo Pipes

Bamboo Pipe Drums

We were not really sure what to expect.  Will it be enjoyable and entertaining?  Can you listen to a band play bamboo pipes for more than a few minutes without being “bored”?  The answer to all of those questions is a resounding, yes, yes, and yes!

Sorry for the weird colors in the photos, but the resort had colored lights.

They had drummers that ranged in ages from 9 to 50+.  The interesting thing is that the band rotated instruments throughout the night.  They did not stay with one set of bamboo pipes.  

There were 6 bamboo pipe drums, each with varying lengths of bamboo and each making unique musical notes.  

One person played a set of bamboo pipes like a flute, blowing into each culm creating beautiful baritone or base notes. And another person played the bag (for lack of better words). Inside the bag were a lot of nuts and they would lift and squish the bag making a marvelous sound.

What do Bamboo Pipes Consist of?

The bamboo culm (stem) is latched with vines and expertly organized by its sound.  One resort guest went up and asked to play (he was not so good).  But the guest asked the performer for “e” and believe it or not he pointed to a specific bamboo pipe!

The paddles are made of used, yellow floats that are carved up, shaped and attached to sticks to pound onto the pipes.  Talk about a great way to reuse these floats that end of up littering the beaches!

One of the dancers managed to get me out to the dance floor.  Not sure my Lake girl skills were helpful at this time 🙂

Matt and I had such an amazing time!  We really thoroughly enjoyed the bamboo pipe band!  The music was played with enthusiasm and joy and was truly fantastic.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We saw the Bamboo Pipe Band at Turtle Bay Resort on 10 August 2024.  We finally found an adventure trail that almost wipes me out – the Millennium Cave Adventure — check out the blog post here.