Things to Do in Pentecost

Land-divving ceremony at Lonorore

April to June you stand at the foot of a 30-metre tower. Men and boys knot vines to their ankles, then dive into nothing. Dust jumps. Spectators chew sugar cane. The crack of the vine snaps across the clearing like a starting pistol.

Waterfall swim at Salap

From Salap village a 45-minute walk leads to a double-drop fall that crashes into a jade bowl. The water is cold enough to yank your breath after the sticky forest trail. Fern walls weep. Swifts wheel overhead. The pool smells of wet moss and crushed citrus.

Coastal paddle to Asanvari's reef

Borrow a fiberglass outrigger at Asanvari. Skirt mangroves where herons lift with a whoosh. Water shifts from milky jade to cobalt. You will hear parrotfish gnaw coral before you see them.

Village yam feast at Baie Martelli

In March the air around Baie Martelli drifts with earth-oven smoke and grated coconut. Households vie for the longest yam. You will eat smoky lap-lap in banana leaf and lick roasted kumala from your fingers while dancers stamp red dust into the sky.

Cave snorkel off Loltong

A five-minute swim from Loltong's pebble beach takes you to a sea cave whose ceiling barely clears your snorkel. Inside, water glows aquamarine. Your breath echoes. Flashlight fish blink like loose wiring.

Lonorore village bungalows - woven walls, reef out front, kava bowl every dusk

Salap community guesthouse: solar lights, shared bucket shower, waterfall trail starts at the gate.

Asanvari seafront bamboo huts: canoe masts knock you to sleep.

Loltong church hall: thin mattresses on the floor, cold tank water, cheaper than most Pacific beds.

Baie Martelli homestay: family cooks over open fire, yam garden outside, roosters trumpet at 4 a.m.

Sara rest-house - tin roof, hill breeze, close to the northern tower site