Erakor Island Resort & Spa

Rooms and decor

All of the roughly 75 bungalows on the island are built to face the lagoon. Some are Lagoon Bungalows right at the water's edge — three steps off the deck and you're swimming; others are raised on stilts out over the water, so a glance down from the deck at dawn catches small blue and yellow fish moving past in shoals. The interiors mix tropical island style with local materials: honey-coloured timber floors, high open ceilings that let the breeze through, a ceiling fan turning slowly, a sofa nook by the window for morning coffee. Beds wear clean white linen under a tropical mosquito net that makes the place feel like an old-film resort. Some bathrooms are partly open-air, and a few bungalows have a semi-outdoor shower so you wash under the sun and birdsong. There's air-con and a fan, and Wi-Fi across the island — though the signal is thin in spots. What reviewers keep coming back to is the feeling that you open the door straight onto water — no lobby to cross, no lift, nothing between you and the lagoon.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here is the water sports, all built into the room rate — kayaks, SUP boards and snorkel gear, free and unlimited throughout your stay. A small counter by the beach has staff to fit life vests on the kids and teach first-timers to paddle. A short way out you hit a snorkel spot with shallow coral, colourful tropical fish and water clear enough to read the sand bottom; on a bright day it turns turquoise in a way that's hard to believe so close to town. In the evening everyone heads to Aore Restaurant, the resort's main dining room built on posts out over the lagoon — dinner here comes in soft yellow lantern light, with small waves lapping the stilts below and, some nights, gentle live Vanuatu music. The menu leans on fresh local seafood and Pacific-Asian plates; prices run fairly high by island-resort standards, but the setting earns it. There's also a small waterfront spa serving Melanesian-style treatments using coconut oil and local herbs. And the thing many reviews agree on is the staff — attentive, smiling, calling you by name after a day or two, so it feels more like visiting island relatives than checking in.

Location and getting there

Picture this: you land at Vanuatu's Bauerfield Airport, drive just 15–20 minutes out of Port Vila, and end up at a small jetty called Erakor Wharf. Before the car has even stopped, the resort's little boat pulls in; you sit down, the driver smiles hello, and in under two minutes you step onto the private 16-acre island. This is what sets it apart from other Port Vila resorts — a genuine private island, not a beachfront place with a road running past it. The island is roughly 10 km from central Port Vila and Bauerfield (VLI) sits about 12 km away. Walk up from the boat and a timber path threads through palms and tropical plants, pale-wood bungalows scattered around, each facing the water. No cars, no horns, no traffic — just the lagoon, the birds and the dip of a paddle from a guest out kayaking.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The first thing reviews raise most is the price and choice of food. Being on an island, everything has to come across the lagoon, so food and drink cost noticeably more than restaurants in Port Vila, and the options are limited because Aore Restaurant is essentially the only one — eating elsewhere means a boat back to the mainland and a taxi into town. The fix is to head into town for dinner a night or two to switch things up and save. Second is Wi-Fi: it reaches the whole island but the signal is genuinely weak in some bungalows and corners, so anyone who needs to take meetings should plan ahead or sit near the main building. Third is the state of some bungalows — older timber structures showing wear, the odd creaky floorboard or faded paint; the resort keeps things clean, but the feel is rustic Pacific island rather than sleek and modern. Last, there's not much to do on land — the island is small, a walk around takes about 30 minutes, and activity-hungry guests may find it quiet after day one. But that quiet is exactly what people who want real rest come for.

Our take

Pulling together the real reviews, Erakor Island Resort & Spa nails one thing — a private-island experience that's improbably close to town. If your idea of the trip is paddling a kayak around the island in the morning, lounging in a waterfront bungalow through the afternoon, then dinner over the lagoon by lantern light with the water against the stilts, this delivers almost completely, from about $126 a night — good value next to comparable private-island resorts in the Pacific. It's best for families with young children who want a safe, car-free place for the kids to roam, and for couples wanting to cut off from town without a long flight. Anyone after lively nightlife, a range of restaurants or a brand-new luxury build should look elsewhere. Overall we give it 8.5/10 for being a private island with warm service and water sports worth the rate — a resort that makes you remember Port Vila in a way nowhere else does.