Beneath the turquoise surface of the bay lie trucks, cranes and thousands of Coca-Cola bottles. In 1945, the US military, unable to find buyers for its war surplus, pushed everything into the sea at the end of a pier on Espiritu Santo. The spot has since been called Million Dollar Point, and it sums up Luganville well: a small South Pacific town where the Second World War left traces everywhere, right down to the seabeds that snorkellers explore today.

From the Quay to Downtown

Ships dock at the main wharf, right on the edge of Vanuatu's second-largest town. The main street is about a ten-minute walk away: century-old Chinese shops, French-style bakeries — a legacy of the Anglo-French condominium — and the market near Unity Park, where women sell taro, pineapples and flower garlands beneath the mango trees. A cenotaph there recalls the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who passed through the island, transformed into a gigantic military base between 1942 and 1945.

Million Dollar Point and the Coolidge Wreck

A short drive to the east, Million Dollar Point can be visited from the beach: 10 to 20 metres from shore, the submerged military equipment forms a steel reef where corals and fish have made their home. The spot is well suited to snorkelling, with caution and reef shoes recommended: metal breaks the surface in places and the tide affects visibility. Certified divers, for their part, aim for the wreck of the SS President Coolidge, a luxury liner turned troop transport, sunk by mines in 1942 and considered one of the planet's great wreck dives.

Blue Holes and Northern Beaches

The island's interior holds another surprise: blue holes, freshwater springs of unreal clarity, ringed by jungle and vines. Riri and Matevulu are among the most visited, reached by road or, for the former, by outrigger canoe from the river; you swim in cool water with sapphire glints. Farther north, the coastal road leads to Champagne Beach, an arc of white sand fringed by a crystal-clear sea, and to the village of Port Olry, where grilled lobster is served with your feet in the sand. Full-day excursions generally combine two or three of these stops; bring a swimsuit, towel and water shoes, as the program is resolutely amphibious.

Local life has its codes, easy to adopt. You pay in vatu, greet people with a broad smile, and discover that the population switches fluently between Bislama, English and French — a reminder of the Anglo-French condominium that governed the archipelago until 1980. At the end of the day, the nakamals serve kava, a traditional drink made from a peppery root, with an earthy taste and calming effect: the curious can try it, as one shell is enough for the experience.

The Island You Come Back To

Espiritu Santo inspired writer James Michener, then a young American officer, to write the stories that would become the musical South Pacific. Exploring its beaches and coconut plantations, you understand what had struck him: exuberant nature, disarmingly kind people, and this world history that collided with an island at the end of the world. As you re-embark, the smiles of the market vendors stay with you for a long time. Santo, as people here say, isn't something you describe: it's somewhere you come back to.