Luganville

Luganville is the main town on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu's largest island. The town's main street was built wide enough for American military vehicles during WWII, and that wartime history is still visible everywhere. Ships anchor offshore, and tenders bring passengers to the waterfront. The town has a relaxed, low-key atmosphere with Chinese-owned shops, an open-air market, and not much else in the centre. Million Dollar Point, where the US military dumped equipment into the sea at the end of WWII, is now a snorkelling site where you can see jeeps, trucks, and other hardware covered in coral. The SS President Coolidge, a luxury liner turned troopship that sank offshore in 1942, is one of the world's most accessible wreck dives. Champagne Beach has white sand and clear water. The Matevulu Blue Hole is a freshwater swimming spot surrounded by jungle. Laplap (grated root vegetables baked in coconut cream) is the traditional dish. The currency is the Vatu.