Hideaway Island Resort and Where to Stay
Hideaway Island accommodation: the resort on the island, Mele Beach and Mele Bay accommodation on the mainland opposite, or Port Vila town. Who each base suits, and the catch.
For Hideaway Island, stay on the Mele side of Mele Bay if you want the island within reach every day, and in Port Vila town if you want the most pickups, restaurants and shops at the door. Sleeping on the island itself, at Hideaway Island Resort and Marine Sanctuary, suits the snorkeller who wants the reef before the day visitors arrive, with one catch: the resort’s own website could not be opened on 13 November 2026, so check that rooms are on sale before you plan around it. Each base is set out below with its catch and a room search.
Snorkel first: on Hideaway Island
Why it suits you. The Vanuatu Tourism Office lists Hideaway Island Resort and Marine Sanctuary among Efate’s resorts: a small coral atoll surrounded by clear turquoise water, coral reefs and thousands of fish, the custodian of one of Vanuatu’s only marine sanctuaries, with the underwater post office (13 November 2026). The Office says you can snorkel right off the beach in front of the restaurant.
The catch. It is an island, so every trip off it starts with the boat to the mainland, and day visitors come over on the day pass, so the beach and the reef are not yours alone in the day. The resort’s own website could not be opened on 13 November 2026, so confirm rooms and prices with the resort. Vila Hope Tours and Transfers’ Hideaway Island Escape lists Hideaway Island Resort & Marine Sanctuary among its pickup points.
Search rooms on Hideaway Island
Families: Mele Beach, opposite the island
Why it suits you. Mele Beach is where the Tourism Office’s shuttle boat to the island leaves. Vanuatu Beachfront Apartments, in the Office’s listing, has studios, two-bedroom apartments and a four-bedroom penthouse with views of Mele Beach, a pool, a kids club and a safe, sandy swimming beach, with kayaks, paddleboards and bicycles to use and access to Hideaway Island for snorkelling.
The catch. You are out of town: the Tourism Office’s page gives the drive to Port Vila as 10 minutes in one place and around 25 in another, so allow for the longer one. It is a pickup point for Lavanua Tours & Transfers Vanuatu’s Hideaway Island day; check any other tour’s pickup list before you book.
Couples: a bungalow on Mele Bay
Why it suits you. Island Magic Resort, in the Tourism Office’s listing, has self-contained bungalows in 4 acres of tropical gardens overlooking the water and coral reef of Mele Bay, a restaurant and bar, and a jetty with a ladder into the sea; guests borrow snorkel gear and bicycles. The Office gives the drive as 15 to 20 minutes, 10 km, from Port Vila’s centre.
The catch. Town is a drive, not a walk, and a boat to Hideaway Island is not among its facilities, so you cross from Mele Beach like everyone else. It is on Vila Hope Tours and Transfers’ pickup list for the Hideaway Island Escape.
First time in Vanuatu: Port Vila town
Why it suits you. Every tour on this site collects in town, so you can book any of them and change your mind without changing hotels. The Vanuatu Tourism Office describes the capital as set around a natural harbour, 10 minutes from one of Vanuatu’s two international airports. Iririki Island Resort & Spa is on a private island in the harbour, a 3-minute ferry ride from town by its own website, with two pools and a kids club. It is on the pickup list of Vila Hope Tours and Transfers’ Hideaway Island Escape.
The catch. Hideaway Island is a drive and a boat away, about 10 minutes by car to Mele Bay in the Tourism Office’s words; from Iririki, every morning starts with the ferry too.
On a budget
Stay in Port Vila town. Kaiviti Motel, in the Vanuatu Tourism Office’s listing, has 37 studios and two-bedroom apartments overlooking the harbour, a 10-minute walk from the centre, with restaurants and a supermarket nearby. On your own, the island day is the bus to Mele, the boat and the day pass paid on the island (the Hideaway Island day pass quotes the Tourism Office’s two lines on it).
Search budget rooms in Port Vila
Arriving by cruise ship
You do not need a room: you sleep on the ship. Several tours collect cruise passengers at the wharf or the terminal, and none is your cruise line’s own excursion; see the cruise question on the Hideaway Island homepage.
The room searches above show what is free and at what price; this guide does not rank places. Facts about each place come from its own website or its Vanuatu Tourism Office listing, as of 13 November 2026.
Then the Island Day
Vila Hope Tours and Transfers' Hideaway Island Escape collects from hotels around Port Vila and Mele Bay, the island's own resort among them: the Blue Lagoon, 90 minutes on Hideaway Island and the turtles, with entry fees and lunch. One adult can book.
Check dates on Viator