Bauerfield International Airport sits three kilometers from Port Vila center on Efate. The single terminal processes all international arrivals. Air Vanuatu operates the majority of scheduled services, with direct routes from Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Nadi, and Nouméa. Aircalin connects through New Caledonia. Qantas code-shares on Air Vanuatu metal. Virgin Australia suspended direct services in 2020 and has not resumed. Flight frequency drops substantially outside June through September. Brisbane to Port Vila takes three hours fifteen minutes. The airport has no jetbridges. Passengers walk across tarmac regardless of weather.
Pekoa International Airport on Espiritu Santo receives international flights from Brisbane on Air Vanuatu twice weekly. This service operates year-round but changes frequency without advance notice. The terminal has one baggage carousel and three check-in counters. No scheduled international passenger ships serve Vanuatu. Cargo vessels occasionally accept passengers on routes from Fiji or New Caledonia, but scheduling is irregular and berths cannot be pre-booked through standard channels.
Citizens of most countries receive a free thirty-day visitor permit on arrival. This applies to passport holders from European Union states, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and approximately one hundred other nations. The immigration officer stamps the permit directly into the passport at no charge. Extensions up to four months total can be requested at the Immigration Department office on Lini Highway in Port Vila for 5,000 vatu per month. Processing takes two business days. Nationals of countries not on the visa-exempt list must apply at a Vanuatu diplomatic mission before travel. The official list appears at immigration.gov.vu.
The vatu is the sole legal currency. The symbol VT or VUV appears on price tags. No coins exist below one vatu. Coins circulate in denominations of one, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, and one hundred vatu. Notes come in two hundred, five hundred, one thousand, and five thousand vatu. As of December 2024, one hundred vatu equals approximately 0.84 US dollars. Exchange rates against the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar fluctuate less than against USD. Banks publish daily rates on lobby boards.
ANZ Bank, Bred Bank, and National Bank of Vanuatu operate in Port Vila and Luganville. Branches exist in Lenakel on Tanna and Lakatoro on Malekula but open only three days weekly. Automated teller machines accept Visa and Mastercard. Machines dispense only vatu in denominations of one thousand or five thousand. Daily withdrawal limits range from thirty thousand to fifty thousand vatu depending on the issuing bank. Transaction fees apply from both the local bank and the foreign card issuer. Machines frequently run out of cash on weekends and after cruise ships dock. ANZ has five ATMs in Port Vila, two at the airport and three in town. Bred Bank operates three ATMs in central Port Vila.
Foreign currency exchanges at commercial banks, licensed exchange bureaus, and hotels. Banks offer better rates than hotels by approximately three to five percent. The ANZ branch at Bauerfield Airport opens for all international flight arrivals and departures. Exchange bureaus in Port Vila cluster on Kumul Highway near the market. Australian dollars and New Zealand dollars exchange at tighter spreads than US dollars or euros. Banks require passport presentation for all currency transactions exceeding ten thousand vatu equivalent. No black market for currency exists because the vatu floats freely and the economy uses Australian dollars semi-officially in tourism sectors.
Credit cards see acceptance at hotels rated three stars or higher, car rental agencies, tour operators with physical offices, and restaurants in Port Vila and Luganville explicitly displaying card symbols. Visa has wider acceptance than Mastercard. American Express and Discover are rarely accepted outside international hotel chains. A three to five percent surcharge applies to card payments at most businesses. Village guesthouses, local markets, nakamals serving kava, domestic inter-island shipping, and buses accept only cash. Card readers frequently fail due to internet connectivity issues. Travelers relying solely on cards have been stranded when systems go offline during tropical storms.
Bring US dollars, Australian dollars, or New Zealand dollars in cash as backup. Notes must be in good condition. Banks refuse torn, heavily worn, or marked bills. Denominations larger than fifty in any currency are difficult to exchange outside Port Vila. Hundred-dollar bills often face refusal at exchange bureaus due to counterfeiting concerns. Arriving with some vatu is unnecessary since airport exchange operates for all flights, but having five thousand vatu in small notes eases the first day if arrival occurs during bank closure hours.