Ratua Private Island Resort

It’s been over three weeks since we left Ratua Island and there hasn’t been a day gone by, that I haven’t thought about our stay. In sharing photos with friends and family I hope I have spread the word that this is a very special and unique place to stay in Vanuatu. We were blessed with almost having the place to ourselves, this perhaps in part due to the run up of the collapse of Air Vanuatu. In hindsight we were very lucky in slip in and out of Santo unlike many who got stranded. Having said that, Vanuatu but more especially Ratua Island, is a wonderful place to get stranded ! If one didn’t have to get back to the rat race it really wouldn’t matter if there were no planes !! We found the island offered a lovely mix of nature and culture. The temp was 30 degrees, mostly cloudy but that didn’t seem to matter. The 200 plus year old Balinese houses are so unusual and unique. We enjoyed our daily walks, swims and snorkelling. Both of us had a horse ride and I even had a swim with my horse. Time slowed down, we read books, observed nature and just enjoyed sitting around doing not much at all. We also enjoyed talking to Resort owner Leah and her wonderful staff of local Vanuatuans. Special thanks to Patricia, Sam, Johnny, Henry, Ollie and Edwige. We glimpsed our cooks but didn’t learn their names. They gave us a lovely variety of delicious food, morning, noon and night. So thanks ! We did have one tour away from the island. We crossed over by longboat to Malo Blue Pool with Henry as our guide. I’m glad I overcame my fear of deep water to do that. It was worth it. We would love to return one day. We’ve never been to anything like Ratua Island Resort before. It is a one off. I’m sure I’ll carry on thinking about our holiday for sometime yet.