You can see the best of Luganville without a car. From Deco Stop Lodge, four stops sit within a fifteen minute walk of our front gate: the Main Street shops, the produce market, the waterfront at Unity Park, and a coconut crab kava bar for the evening. Here is how the town works on foot, downhill in and an easy climb home.
What is on Main Street within a five minute walk?
The heart of Luganville is a five minute stroll down the hill from our front gate. Main Street is a single long strip that holds most of what you need: two supermarkets, LCM and Cash and Carry, both open daily and stocking everything from sunscreen to cold drinks; the banks and ATMs where you can draw vatu; and a scatter of souvenir shops selling carvings, sarongs and woven baskets. It is a working town street rather than a tourist promenade, which is part of its charm. Guests keep mentioning how easy it is to walk the whole strip in an hour and have every practical thing sorted for the week. Take small vatu notes for the smaller shops.
Can you walk to the Luganville market?
Yes, and it is one of the best short walks in town. The main produce market runs along Main Street, about a seven minute walk from the Lodge, and it opens early Monday to Saturday, quietening by mid to late afternoon. Local growers restock it daily with fruit, vegetables and flowers, and it is the same market our kitchen shops at each morning. It suits early risers, when the air is cool and the stalls are full. Bring a few hundred vatu for a bag of fresh island fruit or a coconut to drink on the walk back, and browse the woven mats and baskets at the handmade end if you want a souvenir that packs flat.
Where is the best waterfront walk in Luganville?
Head for Unity Park, at the western end of Main Street, roughly a ten to fifteen minute walk from our front gate. The park is an open, free public space on the banks of the Sarakata River, with big views across the Segond Channel to Aore Island and the shade of old trees for a rest. It is also the site of Luganville’s wartime memorials, marking the town’s role as a vast United States base in the Second World War, with the South Pacific WWII Museum taking shape in a restored Quonset hut. It is the natural place for a slow late-afternoon stroll before the walk back up the hill for sunset, which our guests often say is best watched from the infinity pool.
Where can you try kava on foot at night?
The Cave Kava Bar and Coconut Crab Sanctuary is the one to walk to. It sits next to Cash and Carry on Main Street, about a five to ten minute walk from the Lodge, and it is a kava bar like no other, where you drink Santo’s national drink beside a grotto that is home to enormous coconut crabs. Go after dark, when the crabs are most active. Kava is a mild sedative with an earthy, peppery taste, traditionally drunk in one go from a coconut shell, so it makes for a quiet, easy night rather than a loud one. If you would rather stay closer, there are nakamals dotted through town too. For the walk home up the hill, carry a torch, or let us sort a taxi.
What is the walk back up the hill like?
Short and worth it. The only real climb in a Luganville day is the last stretch back up to our front gate, and it takes most guests around five to ten minutes at an easy pace. Because Deco Stop Lodge sits high above the town, that climb is also the best free view in Luganville: the Segond Channel opens up behind you, the light softens over Aore Island, and by the time you reach the pool deck the whole harbour is laid out below. Do your out-of-town shopping earlier so you are not carrying heavy bags uphill in the heat, keep water on you, and time the walk home for late afternoon when it is cooler. In the evening a torch makes the footpath easy, and a taxi is a quick call if you would rather ride.
FAQs
How far is Deco Stop Lodge from Main Street?
About a five minute walk. Deco Stop Lodge sits on the hill just above the town, so Main Street, the banks, the supermarkets and the market are all a short, mostly downhill stroll from our front gate. The walk back up is the only uphill stretch, and on a warm evening most guests take it slowly and enjoy the harbour views on the way.
Is it safe to walk around Luganville?
Yes. Luganville is a relaxed, friendly town and walking Main Street and the waterfront by day is easy and common for visitors. After dark, stick to lit main streets, carry a small torch for the walk back up the hill, and let us know your plans. For a late night at a kava bar we are happy to help arrange a taxi back to the Lodge.
Where can you try kava in Luganville?
The Cave Kava Bar and Coconut Crab Sanctuary, next to Cash and Carry on Main Street, is the most memorable spot, roughly a five to ten minute walk from the Lodge. You can also try kava at the nakamals dotted around town. Evenings are the time to go, kava is a mild sedative, so plan a quiet night and do not drive afterwards.
Do you need a car to enjoy Luganville town?
No. Everything in the town itself, the shops, market, waterfront, Unity Park and the kava bars, is within a comfortable fifteen minute walk of Deco Stop Lodge. A car or a tour only becomes useful for the sites out of town, like the blue holes and Champagne Beach, and those operators pick up from our front gate.
Luganville rewards a walker, and from our front gate the whole town is yours on foot: shops and market by morning, the waterfront by afternoon, and a coconut shell of kava as the light goes. When you are ready to base yourself in the middle of it, take a look at our rooms and rates and the wider things to do on Espiritu Santo for the trips out of town.
Image credit: Simon_sees, CC BY 2.0
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