Dive Review of Aore Island Resort and Tranquility Dive, Moso Isla in
Vanuatu and New Caledonia

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Aore Island Resort and Tranquility Dive, Moso Isla, Nov, 2009, by Stanley Zuk, NY, USA ( Sr. Reviewer 11 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 5316.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Republic of Vanuatu is a wonderful vacation spot in the South Pacific, situated between Solomon Islands and Fiji. I flew from NYC on Emirates to Dubai, Melbourne, and finally Auckland. From Auckland I embarked on Air Vanuatu to Port Vila, which is Vanuatu's capital. When staying for a week on Efate Island I dove with Tranquility Island Diving on Moso Island north of Efate, which was a pleasant experience. I was the only person on their boat, and dove reefs around Moso Island. Coral there is in excellent shape, very similar to the one of Fiji, tropical fish life was not bad, however, it lacked big pelagics. Tranquility Dive is a really good operation, they are nice and very helpful, and they have a few cottages on Moso Island, if someone would like to stay in a secluded tranquil environment away from anything. Moso Island has one of the most beautiful beaches in Vanuatu, great snorkeling and tracking, plus you can visit surrounding islands, like Lelepa, and Enea, which I enjoyed very much. I chose to stay in Le Meridien in Port Vila, and rented a car to visit all possible interesting places Efate Island had to offer. Air Vanuatu offers good packages with the variety of accommodation around Espiritu Santo Island, and I chose to stay and dive with Aore Island Resort across the channel from Luganville, the capital of Espiritu Santo Island. They have their own dive operation connected to Santo Dive Tours operation. My main purpose was to dive President's Coolidge wreck, of course, and they were very good, and knew the wreck left and right, following every possible deco stops and decompression, when diving different parts of the wreck. Their boats are very small, but the staff is very good, and there was never more then two divers on the boat, and most of the time I was by myself. It is funny that President Coolidge is situated so close to the beach, that the easiest way to dive it is shore diving. There was always something new each dive around President Coolidge, sometimes interesting shrimp, a turtle, or something, but over all most dives around Espiritu Santo had no large fish, no sharks, or no large pelagics. Coral looks great, particularly around Aore and Bokissa islands, but fish life was not the best. Only one time we were surprised by a very large crocodile fish waiting for a pray. Diving in Vanuatu is not the best, but I just wanted to dive the biggest wreck and enjoy unique culture of these islands. Million Dollar Point shore dive is just the thing to do on Espiritu Santo, but it is kind of boring, with not much fish life. Aore Island Resort is a wonderful place. My bungalow was situated right on the small beach and snorkeling there was really good. Service and food were very good, and management and staff would do anything to please you and organize your diving and tours. All of them deserve to be mentioned, but I unfortunately don't remember all their names, only Ann, who was so wonderful and greeted you in person upon arrival on the resort's pier. If you do come to dive President Coolidge in Vanuatu, make sure you'll stay in Aore Resort. They organized my tours to Champagne and Lommock beaches, Blu Hole spring, and world famous Millenium Cave on Espiritu Santo Island, which was extraordinary. Divers, who would like to do some tracking in order to take a break from diving through the marvelous Millenium Cave must know, that it is a very difficult track, and rocks are dangerous and slippery. When you are in Northern Vanuatu, you will be in almost completely untouched by tourists territory, interacting with local villagers, and enjoying spectacular beaches just by yourself, cause it's all uncrowded and untouched for the most part. Republic of Vanuatu has about 83 islands, most of them untouched by divers, and my last week there I spent on Tanna Island, with spectacular rocky reefs going down 25-30 meters straight to the sandy bottom, where fish life was abundant, and there was not a single snorkeling without a few turtles each time. Tanna has an active Mt. Yasur volcano, which is a spectacular sight, and all trips to local villages, kava nights, and Melanesian dances were extraordinary. On Tanna I stayed in White Grass Resort which was just fabulous. It was a fantastic trip, but there is a little warning to all this. Vanuatu is not cheap, and be prepared to spend money there. I organized everything by myself in Port Vila at Air Vanuatu office when I landed there, which offers good packages and much better deals, than any dive tours operator abroad, and they do everything swiftly and professionally.
Websites	Aore Island Resort and Tranquility Dive, Moso...
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Curacao, Bonaire, Caymans, Fiji, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Fakarava, Toau, Cook Islands, Palau, Yap, Sipadan, Layang Layang, Hawaii, many others...
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	77-83°F / 25-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-30 M / 66-98 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	safety stop, decompression
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Aore Island Resort and Tranquility Dive, Moso Isla in Vanuatu and New Caledonia

Aore Island Resort and Tranquility Dive, Moso Isla, Nov, 2009,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Aore Island Resort and Tranquility Dive, Moso Isla in
Vanuatu and New Caledonia