Lenakel - Clearance
This is one of the four official clearance ports for Vanuatu. See Vanuatu Formalities for detailed information on Clearance.
Note: Reports were received from cruisers in October 2018 who had trouble clearing into the country in Tanna (see Related User Comments) and instead were sent to Port Vila. The Government offices have confirmed however that this port is an official POE and that this was a one-off incident.
Remember: 24 hours prior notice of arrival is required by Customs.
Quarantine and Immigration formalities are completed at the police station. There is now a permanent customs office on the island. Cruisers report however that clearing in here can be a slow process so be prepared to have to hang around (not ideal if there is a big swell in the harbour).
There is a bank in Lenakel where foreign currency can be changed into Vatu only, but there is no ATM and cards are not accepted. Cash advances on credit cards can be had at Evergreen Bungalows. The nearest ATM facilities are in Port Vila.
If wishing to stop at Aneityum after clearing out, it is important to get prior permission to do this and to include the time you plan to spend there when calculating the fees due for your stay in Vanuatu.
Last updated: November 2018
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Port Navigation
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Port Resolution
The weather was going to turn wild with high winds forecast for the last two days of our journey to Port Vila so we emailed port resolution and requested permission to go there instead. It would seem they needed permission from Port Vila maybe because we had planned to go to Port Vila.
The next day was a holiday in Vanuatu so we heard nothing back. The morning we were due to arrive we received email confirmation that we could go to port resolution.
We arrived on the 30th May at 10 am. The officials were still there and a friend on another boat said if we were quick we would be able to clear in that day. But we needed to get the dinghy/outboard down so decided to wait. We received an email to tell us to wait until the officials told us to come over and they emailed our official letter giving permission to clear in at Port Resolution.
31st May . We received a call on the VHF radio at about 11:15 asking us to come over to the yacht club with all our paper work.
It was a simple process, fill in the forms for customs, immigration and health. Pay your money. 4000 VUV each. There was a petrol fee for them coming to Port Resolution (3000 VUV) split between us and another boat. We paid in NZD so we could keep our VUV.
Cute village, lovely people ,no shops but you can get a taxi ride to Lenakal but it’s about 2/3 hour ride in a truck, apparently not pleasant. You can also get a ride to the volcano from here.
This bay was the most rolly bay we have been in since we left the U.K. 7 years ago. Stern anchor required to face you into the swell. Anchored in 5 metres.
Reported October 8th by SY Golden Glow:
IMPORTANT UPDATE.
We cleared immigration at Port Resolution in August with no problem, but customs had to be done in Port Vila when we got there some weeks later (the officials in Tanna told us not to worry about the delay and officials in Port Vila also had no problem with that).
Friends who tried to clear Vanuatu immigration into Tanna EITHER in Lenakel or Port Resolution a few weeks ago, however, were told it is no longer possible. There was a sign on the door in Lenakel saying go to Port Vila.
So folks, check the current status before you go. Stanley in Port Resolution May have the answer +678 68791
compdoc says:
Aug 03, 2018 12:44 AM
I started applying for email permission to land at Anatom 3 days before leaving Fiji. Every email to customs was met with an auto-reply saying their inbox was full and my email would not be recorded–try again.
After 15 of these, numerous phone calls to customs which were also not answered and without voice messages, and approaching Vanuatu we called a friend who lives in Port Vila asking her to call customs and see if she could get anywhere. She reached someone who then answered one of many many emails replying absolutely not on Anatom, nor at Port Resolution on Tanna. If heading for Tanna the only clearing in point available was Lenakel.
So we did, spent all day waiting for customs and immigration to show up [website says they open at 7:30 AM] and spent the worst night of my sailing career at the anchorage due to massive swell.
Needless to say, we left next AM headed to Port Vila. The customs officer who met us there claimed he gave us permission to clear in at Port Resolution by email. Never happened. Beware!