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A 50 to 60m yacht Vanuatu in the dry season (May to October 2026) runs $245,000 to $345,000 per week plus 25 to 30 percent APA, takes 10 to 12 guests across 6 cabins, and carries 14 to 16 crew. Vanuatu at this LOA is the South Pacific's volcano-and-island-chain expedition product: an 83-island archipelago that stretches 1,300 kilometres on a north-northwest axis from Aneityum at 20 degrees south to the Torres Islands at 13 degrees south, anchored at Port Vila on Efate as the Yachting World marina and customs base. The active 50 to 60m fleet at any dry-season week is 0 to 1 yacht on prior positioning from the Australian or Fijian basin, the thinnest 50-plus metre base in the South Pacific basin alongside Tonga and a structurally expedition-shaped product running the Tanna Mount Yasur active-volcano daylight, the Espiritu Santo Champagne Beach and Million Dollar Point wreck-dive product, and the Pentecost Island land-diving cultural shoulder. The Port Vila Yachting World base, the Luganville secondary alongside on Espiritu Santo, and the customs clearance under the Vanuatu Customs Department framework run the bracket's structure.
Why the bracket calls Vanuatu specifically
The Tanna Mount Yasur active-volcano daylight. The Tanna southern-archipelago island holds the destination's marquee shore product on Mount Yasur, one of the world's most reliably accessible active volcanoes at 361 metres elevation with continuous Strombolian eruption activity on the Volcanological Hazard Map level 2 baseline. The bracket holds at anchor on the protected Port Resolution on the eastern Tanna face on 10 to 18 metres of sand bottom, with the cross-island land transfer of 45 minutes to the Yasur rim coordinated through the licensed local guide framework on the prior daylight permit. The Yasur evening rim approach with the eruption-visibility window after sunset runs the bracket's marquee shore daylight.
The Espiritu Santo Champagne Beach and Million Dollar Point bracket. Espiritu Santo, the largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago on the northern reach, holds the bracket's structural northern anchor product on Champagne Beach (the central white-sand crescent on the northeastern face) and Million Dollar Point (the World War 2 US Pacific Fleet equipment dump-site shore-dive on the southeastern face) with the SS President Coolidge wreck-dive at 21 to 67 metres on the protected western anchorage. The Luganville port-of-entry on the southeastern face handles the bracket's northern clearance and the alongside on the commercial quay by prior arrangement.
The Pentecost Island land-diving cultural-shoulder calendar. Pentecost Island in the central archipelago holds the traditional Nagol land-diving ceremony (the structural antecedent to modern bungee-jumping) on the April through June calendar tied to the yam-harvest timing, with the bracket-fit guest daylight running on the licensed cultural-tourism permit through the Pentecost Cultural Centre. The Nagol falls structurally on the May and early June shoulder edge and the bracket runs the Pentecost call as a 1 to 2 night extension on the May shoulder routing only.
The Port Vila Yachting World base. The Port Vila Yachting World on Efate at 17 degrees 44 minutes south handles the bracket alongside on the outer-T berth structure with the 60m-plus capacity on prior allocation. The base runs 5 minutes from the Port Vila town centre for the chief stew provisioning and 15 minutes from Bauerfield International (VLI) for the bracket-fit guest transfer. VLI takes direct fixed-wing from SYD, BNE, AKL, NAN, and the wider Pacific carrier network on the Air Vanuatu and Qantas schedule.
Weekly rate map for dry season 2026 to 2027
Rates below are firm dry-season pricing (May to October 2026, with the 2027 calendar repeating), before APA at 25 to 30 percent and gratuity at 12 to 15 percent. The Tanna Mount Yasur licensed-guide permit, the Pentecost Nagol cultural-tourism permit, the Espiritu Santo Champagne Beach and Million Dollar Point local-village coordination, and the Vanuatu Customs Department clearance run through the APA on the daily basis. The 15 percent Vanuatu value-added tax on charter activity applies at the bracket and the captain's agent runs the prior coordination.
| LOA bracket | Motor yacht (low to high) | Sailing yacht and motor-sailor (low to high) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 to 53m | $245K to $280K per week | $205K to $245K per week |
| 53 to 57m | $280K to $315K per week | $240K to $275K per week |
| 57 to 60m | $310K to $345K per week | $265K to $305K per week |
The peak dry-season window runs July through September on the central southeast-trade hold and pulls a 4 to 6 percent premium against the May and October shoulder edges. The Nagol land-diving shoulder window in May and early June pulls the cultural-tourism premium on the bracket-fit Pentecost extension. The Christmas and New Year window runs the cyclone-shoulder edge and the bracket does not structurally market the December and January routing. The Vanuatu all-in week at the bracket runs roughly 1 to 3 percent below the equivalent New Caledonia week on the thinner infrastructure depth, roughly 6 to 8 percent below the equivalent Fiji week, and structurally on par with the Tonga whale-shoulder week on the wider single-product calculus. For broader context see Charter French Polynesia, South Pacific charter season, and the 40-50m Vanuatu bracket.
What the bracket buys you in this bracket
Cabins. Six standard. The Vanuatu shoulder pool at the bracket runs the on-deck master plus VIP plus four guest doubles as the layout, calibrated to the multi-couple expedition-product week pattern on the volcano-and-wreck daylight programme.
Crew. Fourteen to sixteen. The Vanuatu call rewards a captain bench with prior Port Vila Yachting World outer-T tenure, prior Tanna Port Resolution anchor positioning and the cross-island Yasur land-transfer coordination, prior Espiritu Santo Luganville and Champagne Beach anchor tenure, and prior Pentecost Cultural Centre permit coordination on the May shoulder Nagol extension. The chef bench runs the Australasian and South Pacific pool with the local-provisioning route through Port Vila (with the structural-light import depth running shallower than the equivalent New Caledonia French metropolitan baseline) and the cross-corridor restock through SYD or NAN on the wider rotation. The dive instructor's prior bench on the SS President Coolidge wreck programme and the Million Dollar Point shore-dive routine is the load-bearing technical crew question at inquiry.
Tenders. Primary 11 to 12m fast tender plus a 7 to 8m beach tender plus a chase boat plus a dedicated dive tender. The Tanna Port Resolution land-transfer staging, the Champagne Beach daylight, the Million Dollar Point shore-dive, the SS President Coolidge wreck-dive, and the Pentecost Nagol cultural-coordination shore call run tender-heavy and take the secondary plus the chase plus the dive tender.
At-anchor stabilizers. Required at the upper end, optional at the lower bracket. The Port Resolution Tanna eastern face takes the prevailing southeast-trade swell on the open-corridor wrap, the Luganville Segond Channel runs the protected lee on the western Espiritu Santo coast, and the Pentecost Lonorore anchor takes the central-corridor easterly chop. The 2018-and-newer hulls running the zero-speed product hold the bracket fit through the wider trade-wind window.
Beach club. Required. The Champagne Beach, the Mele Bay Efate, and the Lonnoc Bay Espiritu Santo daylight runs the beach club open hard through the 24 to 27 degree water band. The structural-open programme runs the morning window before the southeast-trade afternoon chop on both the central and northern grounds.
Helipad. Cat A useful at the upper end. The cross-archipelago helicopter shuttle from VLI to the Tanna Yasur rim daylight, the Espiritu Santo Luganville, and the Pentecost Nagol cultural-coordination runs the bracket-fit upper end and shaves the cross-corridor transit from the 18 to 30 hour northbound sailing leg or 10 to 14 hour fast-tender leg to a structurally direct rotation on the off-grid northern programme.
Trip shape that fits the bracket
The bracket's Vanuatu call sits inside a 10 to 14 night South Pacific dry-season programme rather than a 7-night standalone week because the 1,300-kilometre archipelago footprint runs the destination structurally long on the bracket-fit shape. The 10-night southern Tanna-Efate plus central routing runs Port Vila embarkation, one night at Port Vila for the clearance and the Mele Bay daylight, the southbound transit of 105 nautical miles to Tanna, three nights at the Port Resolution anchor with the Tanna Yasur rim evening daylight on two of the three nights, the northbound return to Efate, two nights at the Havannah Harbour and the Hideaway Island day-anchor on the northwestern Efate coast, two nights at the southeastern Efate Erakor and Pango anchorages, one night at Port Vila for the disembark.
The 14-night Efate, Tanna, and Espiritu Santo full archipelago routing runs Port Vila embarkation, one night at Port Vila for the clearance, the southbound transit to Tanna, two nights at Port Resolution with the Yasur rim daylight, the northbound transit through the central archipelago, two nights at the Lamen Bay Epi and the Lamap Malekula central holds, three nights at Espiritu Santo through Luganville for the customs handoff and the Champagne Beach northeastern anchor and the SS President Coolidge wreck-dive daylight on the southern Segond Channel, two nights at the central Ambrym volcanic-island anchor on the southwest face, two nights on the southbound return, one night at Port Vila for the disembark. Fourteen nights. The bracket-fit full archipelago routing that holds the destination's strongest product separation.
The 7-night Efate plus Tanna southern leg runs the structural minimum at the bracket on the Port Vila and Tanna footprint only, but the bracket reads the 7-night routing as structurally short and we would route the 10-night minimum on the Port Vila-Tanna-northern Efate triangle as the structurally complete shape.
What the bracket does not do well at Vanuatu
The cyclone shoulder window from November through April. The South Pacific cyclone calendar runs the destination off-calendar through the wet window and the bracket does not run charter in the structural off-window. We would pass on any December through April plan at Vanuatu and position the bracket on the wider South Pacific reposition through the Coral Sea wintering or the Solomons northbound delivery for the same calendar.
The Mount Yasur rim approach without the licensed local guide permit. The Tanna Yasur Volcanological Hazard Map level 2 baseline runs the rim daylight on the licensed local-guide framework only and the bracket-fit Yasur daylight requires the prior permit through the Tanna licensed-guide office. We would pass on any Yasur rim plan without the licensed local-guide permit confirmed in writing and would not approach the rim on the higher VHM level 3 hazard escalation.
The 1,300-kilometre archipelago full routing on a 7-night calendar. The Vanuatu archipelago footprint runs the destination structurally long for the bracket-fit week and the 7-night Tanna-only or Efate-only single-product week reads short for the 50 to 60m bracket-fit pricing. We would pass on any 7-night Vanuatu plan and route the minimum at 10 nights with the Port Vila-Tanna northern Efate triangle as the structural floor.
The Pentecost Nagol daylight outside the April through June yam-harvest calendar. The Nagol ceremony runs the structural cultural-calendar window only on the April through June timing and the bracket-fit Pentecost daylight outside the window reads as a generic shore call rather than the marquee cultural product. We would pass on the Pentecost extension outside the May shoulder routing and would not market the Pentecost call on the July through October central window.
Two we would book
For two couples, 10-night southern Tanna-Efate plus central routing in mid-July with Port Vila embarkation, one night at Port Vila for the clearance, the southbound transit to Tanna, three nights at Port Resolution with the Yasur rim evening daylight on two of the three nights, the northbound return to Efate, two nights at the Havannah Harbour and the Hideaway Island day-anchor, two nights at the southeastern Efate Erakor and Pango anchorages, one night at Port Vila for the disembark: a 53 to 55m motor yacht, 6 cabins, twin tenders plus chase plus dedicated dive tender, captain bench on the Port Resolution anchor and the Tanna licensed-guide permit coordination. Budget $295K per week, all-in roughly $390K including APA at 28 percent. Lead time 7 to 10 months for the July central-trade window.
For a family of 10, 14-night Efate, Tanna, and Espiritu Santo full archipelago routing in early September with Port Vila embarkation, one night at Port Vila for the clearance, the southbound transit to Tanna, two nights at Port Resolution with the Yasur rim daylight, the northbound transit through the central archipelago, three nights at Espiritu Santo through Luganville and Champagne Beach and the SS President Coolidge wreck, two nights at the Ambrym central volcanic anchor, two nights on the southbound return: a 56 to 58m motor yacht, 6 cabins, Cat A helipad load-bearing for the cross-archipelago cross-corridor shuttle, captain bench on the full-archipelago routing and the licensed-guide permit coordination across Tanna and Ambrym. Budget $335K per week, all-in roughly $445K. Lead time 10 to 14 months.
Inventory
The live 50 to 60m Vanuatu dry-season inventory updates weekly through the May to October calendar.. For broker-side inquiry, see the brokers pillar and the South Pacific charter season how-to.