Rockwater Resort

I was the guest of Silvana and Jon at the end of March this year for four nights in one of their suites and had a very special time. The grounds of the resort are expansive and beautiful. Jon has done a magnificent job building and maintaining his gardens. I spent two full afternoons walking the grounds alone and had a two hour tour also with Jon including his generator shack. The guy has a handle on sustainability. The on-site coral garden will give you 2 mornings or afternoons with wonderful snorkeling or diving. Silvana runs the operation and keeps Jon in line. I did do excursions from the resort to the Blue Cave snorkel, the trip to Mount Yasur to watch the volcano in the evening, and a village tour/coastline drive. The resort menu changes daily and offers a delicious selection of the local seasonal produce and variety of meat and vegetable proteins. The kitchen does a marvelous job with the meal preparations and I think I had everything on the menu with only a few repeated items that were desserts. This was the first part of my Vanuatu experience and I have many once in a lifetime memories. From the dark sky evenings, the thunder of standing on the rim of the active volcano, vivid island colors on land and sea, to the small tremor I felt reclining on my front porch.

I have travelled many places throughout the world and this place is by far the most beautiful resort I have ever stayed at! My wife and I had the privilege of staying here for 7 days and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were amazed that such a unique paradise was built by John, Sylvana and many of the local Ni-Vanuatu people, in such a remote place, by hand! John and Sylvana are beautiful, kind and caring hosts who went out of their way to ensure we had a pleasant stay. As the local airline (Air Vanuatu) is coming out of liquidation, and booking through them is quite difficult at this time, Sylvana was in regular contact from the very beginning, helping us book flights, and updating us on any changes leading up to our stay. After we landed we were met by our amazing driver Junior, who was waiting for us out the front of the airport. Junior was our driver throughout our entire stay and drove us around the island to various activities. Not only is he a thoroughly competent, safe and courteous driver (many of the roads, including the resort road, are only accessible to 4WD's, lots of fun if you are a 4WD enthusiast!!), but he is very friendly, knowledgeable and prompt. Thankyou so much Junior!! On arrival John gave us a private tour of the entire resort and throughout our stay answered our many questions about their life on Tanna (20+ years!), how the resort was built in partnership with the local people, and the various challenges of what it's like living and operating a resort in a remote place. Witnessing him work together with the local Ni-Vanuatu people on various projects around the resort during our stay (garden maintenance and some small repairs required after the earthquake), it was clear how proud everyone was at what they had created together as a team. John even took a break from his work to take us snorkelling and showed us the best spots out on the reef, (snorkelling is a must do, the reef is spectacular!) Thankyou John! Our rooms were amazing! Built into the surrounding coral face, with pebble-stone floors, unique hardwood roofing and supports, with each room being different from the next. The beds were extremely comfortable, clean, bug free (as long as you keep the door closed!), and were maintained daily throughout our stay. Plenty of filtered water/hot water (instant gas hot water systems are the best!) to use the bath! The bar and restaurant area is truly spectacular with similar unique hardwood designs and many comfortable seating areas to choose from. I particularly enjoyed the sand floors and open design that blends with the surrounding nature to create a truly elemental dining experience. The food and restaurant service were top notch with prices being very reasonable (especially considering the challenges of transporting and storing). The menu changed daily which allowed us to try many different meals, all which were perfectly cooked and tasted amazing. A huge thankyou to Lina, Nawiwa, Mary and Lyn Rose for the amazing food and

We cannot give Rockwater,Silvana and John enough credit for our time here. Great hosts,much information,conservation,care and thought towards the guests/staff. John/Silvanas design of the resort is top class,the food and accommodation is a treat. What they have done here is nothing short of incredible and a pleasure to stay in their warm hospitality.