Vanuatu is a mecca for diving enthusiasts and the underwater action is virtually unparalleled in the world. Not only does the sea offer 30m (100ft) visibility (up to 50m (165ft) depending on conditions), but the seabed is continually surprising and spectacular, with coral reefs and all the bright, sprightly marine creatures that go with them. Highlights include The Cathedral, a vast cavern shot through with spectacular shafts of light from above; Blacksands Reef and Caves, inhabited by myriad small rays; Mele Reef; and more civilian and WWII shipwrecks than you'd care to wave a flipper at.

Other watery activities such as windsurfing, water-skiing, snorkelling and even swimming come into their own (although sharks have been known to spoil the fun in some areas). You can try sport fishing for the big ones, as well as the other sort of fishing where you get to eat the catch. Trekking through cloud forest, rainforest and the mountainous terrain of Santo, Gaua, Ambrym and Erromango is world-class. Learn to ride a horse at one of the horse riding schools or join in the annual picnic horse race day. Port Vila has four excellent golf courses to wind down after a night of dancing or throwing your money away at the casino, and you can console yourself by drinking kava at a local kava bar or nakamal, and realise that the tangible world is just a passing dream.

From April to June land diving takes place on southern Pentecost Island. Men dive off bush timber platforms with flexible vines tied to their ankles in this important religious and fertility rite. The divers' hair scrapes the earth at high speed to fertilise it and ensure a successful yam harvest. The government was compelled to cancel all land diving for a year in 1995 to allow the ceremony's cultural worth to be re-established after it had become swamped by tourists.

On Tanna, Jon Frum Day is celebrated in February and includes dancing, parades and festivals. The Jon Frum cult appeared this century, when ni-Vanuatu believed the mythical Jon Frum would deliver them from Europeans in general and missionaries in particular. The movement was given a boost by the arrival of over 100,000 American service personnel during the war. The Americans dazzled the ni-Vanuatu with their refrigerators, trucks, canned food, cigarettes and other luxuries, which convinced the Tannese that the Europeans were purposely withholding these goodies from them. July sees the celebration of the mid-winter horse racing carnival in Port Vila, and the Toka, a significant clan alliance dance, is celebrated on Tanna for three days between August and November.