Vanuatu · VU

Mere Lava

Mere Lava — known to its own people as Mwerlap, and once charted by Europeans as Star Island — is a small, near-perfect volcanic cone rising abruptly out of the sea in the southern Banks Islands of Torba Province, northern Vanuatu. About 50 km east of Gaua and roughly 90 nautical miles north-east of Luganville, it sits alone and far from the usual tourist circuit, which is precisely what gives it its allure for intrepid travellers, yacht crews and liveaboard sailors. This is not a resort island with a marina and a row of bars. There is no good harbour and the landing is famously difficult onto a skirt of sharp black rock, so few boats come. Those that do are greeted by an exceptionally warm and self-reliant community of some 650 people living in scattered villages up steep jungle tracks. For the adventurous visitor, Mere Lava offers something increasingly rare in Vanuatu: dramatic natural scenery, genuine isolation and an unscripted encounter with island life.