Naros RedMoon
Agent · Port Vila
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Vanuatu is home to over 100 distinct language groups and an extraordinary diversity of living cultural traditions collectively known as 'Kastom'. From land diving ceremonies to ancient sand drawings, these traditions have been maintained for centuries and remain central to daily life.
Learn More at Vanuatu Tourism Office5 locations
The world's original bungee jump, practised on Pentecost Island for over 1,500 years. Men climb towers up to 30 metres high and dive head-first with only jungle vines tied to their ankles. The ceremony is performed each year between April and June to bless the yam harvest.
The most significant ceremony of the Tannese people, Toka is a dance of alliance and reconciliation performed between neighbouring tribes. Hundreds of dancers in traditional dress gather for an all-night ceremony that has taken place annually for generations.
The Rom masked dance of Ambrym is among Vanuatu's most powerful cultural expressions. Performers wear towering tree-fern masks representing ancestral spirits. The dance is also connected to the island's renowned sand drawing tradition, listed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Across Tanna, Malekula, and Espiritu Santo, traditionally governed 'Kastom villages' welcome respectful visitors for guided cultural exchanges. These include demonstrations of traditional cooking, tool-making, plant medicine, and oral storytelling that predate European contact.
Vanuatu's sand drawing tradition — in which intricate geometric patterns are drawn in a single continuous line in sand — is recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Each design encodes genealogical, spiritual, or territorial knowledge passed down through generations.