What is it?

Luganville is the sleepy, sun-bleached capital of Espiritu Santo — Vanuatu's largest island — and one of the South Pacific's most surprising towns. During World War II this was Base Button, a sprawling American military installation of more than 100,000 servicemen, complete with airstrips, hospitals and Quonset huts, and the setting that inspired James A. Michener's 'Tales of the South Pacific'. Today the main street is a single dusty ribbon of Chinese-run trade stores, corrugated-iron cafés and a bustling produce market piled with island cabbage, lap-lap and coconuts, while rusting war relics still poke from the undergrowth and the seabed. Just offshore lies the SS President Coolidge, a 200-metre luxury liner turned troopship that struck a mine in 1942 and now rests in shallow water — the most accessible large wreck dive on the planet. Add the surreal 'Million Dollar Point', where American forces bulldozed tonnes of equipment into the sea rather than ship it home, and Luganville becomes a place where history is something you swim through.

Where is it?

Luganville sits on the southern shore of Espiritu Santo, on the Segond Channel, about 200km north of Vanuatu's capital Port Vila — a 50-minute flight with Air Vanuatu. It's the gateway to northern Santo's headline attractions: Champagne Beach, Port Olry, the Nanda and Riri blue holes, and the wild volcanic interior. The dry season from May to October brings the clearest water, calmest seas and best diving visibility; the cyclone-prone wet months of January to March are best avoided.

What makes it worth it?

Luganville itself won't win beauty contests — and that's precisely the charm. Visitors consistently describe Santo as 'the Vanuatu you dreamed of', a place where you can dive a WWII wreck before breakfast, drink kava with locals at dusk, and have a beach the colour of gin and tonic entirely to yourself. Divers speak of the Coolidge in almost reverent terms: swimming past the Lady, the ship's porcelain relief, or through cargo holds still packed with helmets and jeeps, is a genuinely moving encounter with history frozen in time. Above water, the warmth of ni-Vanuatu hospitality — kids waving from truck-beds, market mamas insisting you try the pamplemousse — lingers longer than any photograph. Years later, it's the contrast you'll remember: rusting steel and coral gardens, war and paradise, layered on top of one another.

How accessible is it?

Getting there is easy: daily-ish domestic flights from Port Vila cost roughly USD 100–200 return, and no special permits are needed. Luganville is walkable and utterly relaxed; accommodation ranges from simple guesthouses at USD 30–60 a night to waterfront resorts at USD 120–250, with meals from USD 5 at market kitchens. Exploring northern Santo requires a hired 4WD (around USD 70–90 per day), a shared minibus, or a driver-guide, as roads deteriorate quickly beyond the sealed stretch. Diving the SS President Coolidge requires open-water certification, with deeper penetration dives needing advanced or technical training; expect USD 60–90 per dive through Luganville's long-established operators, and note the shore-entry sites are physically undemanding. Snorkelling Million Dollar Point, swimming the blue holes and lounging on Champagne Beach need nothing more than reef shoes, sunscreen and a sense of curiosity.