Luganville Tours

Hi everyone,

Finally got my tickets on Thursday. I'm so excited now, it really feels all real and happening :D .

Was reading through the tours booklet and got interested in the WWII relics tour. Has anyone done this tour and is it worth it? Is it only really really interesting for War/Army enthusiasts?

Thanks,

Trevor.

G'day Trevor,

I did the P&O WWII Tour on Louganville last month. I do have an Army background and thought it would be interesting.

The Driver and Guide were great and very informative, but the tour was a bit of a disappointment.

We headed out in a minibus and stopped on the side of the road and saw what looked like a bit of overgrown jungle and were told it was a American jail cell.

Then it was off to Million Dollar Point which was pretty good with lots of rusting gear on the beach front. (you could go there by taxi, it's not far and pay I think $2 at the gate) "This was the best part of the tour". We were left to explore by ourselves for about 15 minutes.

Then we stopped on the side of the road again and were told that through the jungle was an old airstrip that we couldn't see. We again stopped without getting out and told it was the site of a major US base (just some old concrete remains).

We then went up to the top of the Mountain to the old International Airport which was another US Air strip during the war (10 min smoke stop but nothing really to see - just a tar airstrip).

Next stop was the wreck of a B17 Bomber (well, it was certainly a plane wreck but in no way a B17 Flying Fortress). And it wasn't in the jungle it was on some cleared land basically in someone's farm beside the harbour. Again we had about 10 minutes to look around.

Next we drove past some old Nissan huts (half-round) and taken to an old dock the Americans used. Then it was up to a local Motel that overlooked the Ship for a free fruit cocktail or you could buy a Beer, we sat around for about half an hour before going back to the Ship.

Looking at the rural areas of the Island was probably the most interesting, other than Million Dollar Point.

I'm glad I went as I would have always wondered what I missed if I didnt go, but I'm glad my wife decided to stay onboard and veg out for the afternoon as she would have been disappointed both with the waste of time and money.

I was told later by other passengers that they were taken by a local to a real B17 plane wreck in the jungle.

Your best bet would be to find someone else on board who is interested and arrange for a taxi to take you both to Million Dollar Point, have the driver wait around for 30 minutes, and then drive back to the ship. (Taxis and buses are not as we know them, you just do a deal with the driver)

Have a look at the photos I have on Webshots of the B17 and Million Dollar Point. They are on page nine. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

http://community.webshots.com/user/Brushtail2?action=publicAlbums

Best regards,

Phil

Thanks for the info Phil, it really helps me make my decision. I don't think I will spend my money on it if there's not a whole lot to see.

Trevor.

We were there in January. We paid a driver on the dockside $10 per person and he took us to see ALL the tours that P&O had offered individually. We saved a packet doing it this way. As previously stated do your own thing and negotiate with a driver on the wharf - there are heaps waiting around at anytime of the day. We never went off till around 11.00am and there were plenty sitting there - either in vans or taxis

I think that on my next cruise if we go to luganville I will sstay on the boat and catch up on my laundry.

We were there in January. We paid a driver on the dockside $10 per person and he took us to see ALL the tours that P&O had offered individually. We saved a packet doing it this way. As previously stated do your own thing and negotiate with a driver on the wharf - there are heaps waiting around at anytime of the day. We never went off till around 11.00am and there were plenty sitting there - either in vans or taxis

Thanks Narelle, will keep that in mind. How well do the drivers speak english and is it easy to negotiate with them?

Trevor

Thanks Narelle, will keep that in mind. How well do the drivers speak english and is it easy to negotiate with them?

 

Trevor

be careful of the cabbies. we found one to take us around and show us some sights. half way through our tour he stopped at a house and three men came over (mind you i was scared and thought we were going to get robbed). he spoke to them in their language and then proceeded to tell us the price had doubled. we made him take us back to the boat and that was the end of luganville for us. i think we would have had a better time watching movies in our cabin.

be careful of the cabbies. we found one to take us around and show us some sights. half way through our tour he stopped at a house and three men came over (mind you i was scared and thought we were going to get robbed). he spoke to them in their language and then proceeded to tell us the price had doubled. we made him take us back to the boat and that was the end of luganville for us. i think we would have had a better time watching movies in our cabin.

Thanks for the warning. I'd like to think they wouldn't try that caper on us, I'm 6'7" and pretty solid and my mate isn't much smaller, so hopefully they will be too scared to try anything :p

We actually negotiated the price before we went and yes my DH is 6'4

There was actually a very well dressed man on the dockside and he had a laminated piece of paper describing the tours. He spoke very good English. You cld do 3 seperate tours or he then told us we cld do the whole 3 for the one price. We did have to wait approx 10 mins as it was raining and I refused to get in an open van and get wet. The closed van came along and another family also went with us. They had paid $15 each. so bartering is negotiable. We never had a problem the man told the driver exactly where he had to take us and he did take us to all 3 places.

For those who went on the swimming in the water hole they were very disappointed. We got out and had a look but it wasnt very big for swimming at all. The lookout on top of the hill had a good view over the harbour and the diving wreck in the water was a bit of rust sticking up out of the water. For the money we paid it was worth it but to do by ships tours I feel you wld be disappointed. The only ones that werent were the ones that went scuba diving on the wreck.

lolliepollie - cabinmates of mine also got caught like this they negotiated a price to go to millionairs point and when they were ready to go back to the ship they were told it would cost them the same to go back otherwise they would have to make their own way back

lolliepollie - cabinmates of mine also got caught like this they negotiated a price to go to millionairs point and when they were ready to go back to the ship they were told it would cost them the same to go back otherwise they would have to make their own way back

we had a situation earlier that day with million dollar point- we were charged $40.00 (20pp) to go to million dollar point and were told it was a 40min trip so we thought what a bargain. some friends used the same cabbie and they were charged $10.00 each. it wasnt as bad as the cabbie later that day. we spent $60.00 to see their pumping station (yippee) then were told it was going to be $120.00 to go any further. for our $60.00 we were supposed to see all sorts of things but we got a 20-30 min drive seeing the main part of town which we had already walked and some slummy scary areas. with luganville being our first stop it really put a dampner on things for a few days. oh well its all an experience i guess- just glad my partner was there to look after things. :)

just quickly- did anyone do the turtle grass beach tour? did you find the water to be really sort of concentrated compared to other places? strange but the water was a lot saltier and stickier than anywhere I have ever been

Gee guys I didnt realise I had such a good time on my tour ;) ;)

You have all made me feel much better.:p

Our Guide was lovely and our Driver was really friendly and a good driver. (I will just add here that our Guide was a young lady who is on an Australian Scholarship at a Fijian Uni.)

Cheers Phil

We took a taxi to Million Dollar Point, around $10 I think each, stayed all day and got another one back, another $10 each, with other people at the end of the day. The ones that booked the tour up there were not there very long and paid heaps for it. I think I would do that again, being as you can stay all day doing it that way.

I think that on my next cruise if we go to luganville I will sstay on the boat and catch up on my laundry.

Don't forget the laundry is usually closed while you are inside any of the reefs!! May need to use the time to catch up on some reading or sleep!

Cheers,

Chaz:)

Well, I've picked out my tours.

• Le Petit Train - Noumea
  
• Paradise Cove Sail & Snorkel - Vila
  
• Jetboat Adventure - Vila
  
• Canoe the Riri River - Luganville

Thanks for all your help and advice.

Trevor.

Don't forget the laundry is usually closed while you are inside any of the reefs!!

And if you are going on Pacific Star there isn't even a laundry that you can go and do your washing in.

Or an iron!

I want to dive the Coolidge wreck when we are in Luganville. Still trying to decide if it is better to do the ship's dive (only one tank) or organize my own when we get there?

Well, I've picked out my tours.

• Le Petit Train - Noumea
  
• Paradise Cove Sail & Snorkel - Vila
  
• Jetboat Adventure - Vila
  
• Canoe the Riri River - Luganville

Thanks for all your help and advice.

 

Trevor.

Sounds like you will have a great time on those tours!!

cheers, girl05

I want to dive the Coolidge wreck when we are in Luganville. Still trying to decide if it is better to do the ship's dive (only one tank) or organize my own when we get there?

you would probably be better off doing the tour through p&o for insurance, saftey etc reasons. we dove the twin bombies in vila and the dive crew were fantastic

Trevor, you cant go wrong with The Petit train in Noumea or Jetboat in Vila. They were both great tours.

For the person doing the diving off the Coolidge - I suggest you do the ships tour. Those that did it were very pleased with that one. I also think more safer