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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Ratua Island is a wild, magical place with authentic people who offer a simple and warm reception in a naturally beautiful environment. The resort boast of its hand-crafted teak wood villas reconstructed from 200-year old traditional houses in Java and Sumatra. There are 14 Indonesian villas and 2 luxury safari tents, that have been specially reconstructed onsite offering stunning views with a private deck or beach. Located in the Vanuatu Archipelago, off the South East tip of Espiritu Santo, Ratua is only a 35-minute motorboat journey from the mainland on our own motor launch. In enhancing guests' experience, Ratua offers wide selection of activities within the island. Swim with horses, Malo blue hole adventure, legend of Kava, are some of the unique offerings guests enjoy. Most days guests enjoy standup paddleboarding , kayaking, canoeing, snorkelling, and swimming in calm Ratua bay. Alternatively, other guests walk/run around the private island to their hearts content.
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Ratua is for you if you really, truly love to be immersed in a divine environment that looks and feels like a lost paradise. The people are warm and genuinely love the people who come to stay and act with appreciation for the people, their culture and their home. We had exceptional experiences snorkelling with turtles, on pristine coral reefs, and over the wrecks nearby.
The food was delicious, locally sourced and lovingly prepared and presented. Much of it is grown on or near Ratua.
Our accommodation was in a 200 year old hardwood hut. Open windows and mosquito nets are super comfortable and comforting but done come expecting A/c. This is a genuine lux-barefoot experience and takes you to the realisation that you are a part of the place you are in and not a controller of it.
I found the people and the island to be a divinely relaxing, supporting and very freeing environment to relax and return to a very peaceful and uncluttered life. That's priceless, rare and incomparably liberating.
If you really want to relax, release and be all human again, set your compass for Ratua.
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Date of stay: October 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have just had an incredible 6 night stay Ratua Resort. I still can not get over how flat the water is there, it made snorkelling a dream. The staff were friendly, always with a smile on their face, they organised wonderful activities for us and the food they made was absolutely delicious (an all inclusive resort) The spa is seriously gorgeous, a villa over the water and the masseuse are brilliant. We stayed in Buffalo a vintage teak villa with its own beach, we loved spending the evenings sitting on the veranda watching the sunset and watching the fish jumping around and we can’t forget all the turtles 🐢 What more could you ask for.
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Date of stay: October 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Don’t waste time and book it!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Came to status for an elopement wedding. Fantastic staff, food and service and to die for location. Crystal clear waters, swimming with turtles and great reefs to snorkel on. Quick trip from nearby Malo Blue Hole well worth a visit. Took an opportunity to swim with horses … if you’re into horses this a definite must-do. Rebuild post cyclone near complete and will be amazing when done. Villas are unique and well appointed. Absolutely magical place for us to get married and the wedding photos are spectacular due to the variety of amazing scenery options. Highly recommend for those who want a wedding with a difference in a very special part of Vanuatu. So good we are already thinking about which anniversary we will be back for!
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Date of stay: November 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Quiet secluded holiday outside of school holidays. Nov is start of cyclone season but weather has...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We didn't get there! We were left standing on the wharf! We'd arranged to go to Ratua for the weekend - we'd made arrangements, organised transport, done shopping and packed all our things. We arrived at the wharf at 9am as instructed. At 9:15, with no boat in site, we sent a message asking if the boat was on its way and were told our booking had been cancelled and staff sent home because there weren't enough guests this weekend. Nobody had thought to let us know. We said we were disappointed to not have been told earlier, and they said that it would not have been financially viable for them for us to come. This was in spite of us having agreed to pay a considerable amount for transport, accommodation and meals, and also requesting information on other packages we could purchase while there. I just hope the staff were still paid and all the food they told us they'd prepared didn't go to waste.
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Date of stay: November 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My partner and I cannot speak highly enough of our time on the island. From the first moment stepping ashore we were greeted by Brett, Jordane and Amy the resort owners/managers who made us immediately feel right at home. The local staff that run the restaurant and bar were also very accomodating and nothing was ever a bother. The food was fantastic, especially recommend the eye fillet steak! The water activities were all on the doorstep with dozens of turtles to snorkel with just off the beach and coral heads loaded with small fish. Thankyou for everything, safe to say we will be back.
Ben and Tash
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Date of stay: July 2023
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ratua island hands down was the best island we visited in Vanuatu. The friendly staff and management gave us the best experience over the few months we visited Vanuatu. The bar right on the water and beautiful beach dinner setting made the visit so enjoyable and relaxing.
The staff made everything seem so seamless from food requests, to massage bookings to evening activities. The beautiful coral only meters off the beach to snorkel with an amazing amount of turtles to swim with was definitely a highlight.
The beautiful Balinese style villas are so picturesque, the massage hut is definately a standout with the beautiful view and water lapping underneath
This island is absolute paradise, we will miss the beautiful staff and management and will definitely be back to visit. This place will be missed.
Definitely switched into island time while holidaying in paradise
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I were on Ratua for 5 days. Coming from Port Vila and then Santo, this little paradise island was nothing like what we expected. The grounds are gorgeous, the staff even more so, and the food…. don’t get me started! The portions were so generous, beautifully presented and tasted so fresh and delicious. We really appreciated Ratua’s efforts in sourcing food within a 5km radius, fresh organic produce and meat/seafood from the island itself or the neighbouring islands. We were lucky to be the only guests on the island at the time so we got to bond with the staff/locals. Colina the chef even taught us how to make fresh coconut milk from the flesh of coconuts which was incredible! There are so many activities to do around the islands and on Ratua, our highlight was the Malo Blue Holes for sure. Insane! We weren’t lucky with the weather so we didn’t get to Millennium caves or swimming with horses but that’s more of a reason for us to come back. Lukim yu Ratua! Ryan and Martha from Queenstown, New Zealand.
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Date of stay: October 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have just returned from our second visit to Ratua and are already talking about going back. It’s simply that good. Our entire Ratua experience can only be described as superb. Leah and Brett have been the epitome of helpful, accommodating and hospitable. Together they lead a team that made our Ratua experience a total delight. Ratua has reminded us about how their understated service and attention to detail combined with a good dose of humour underpin the stunning natural environment that Ratua Resort has elegantly and sympathetically blended into. We went there to decompress and unwind. Mission accomplished. Thankyou Ratua
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Date of stay: April 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It’s been over three weeks since we left Ratua Island and there hasn’t been a day gone by, that I haven’t thought about our stay. In sharing photos with friends and family I hope I have spread the word that this is a very special and unique place to stay in Vanuatu. We were blessed with almost having the place to ourselves, this perhaps in part due to the run up of the collapse of Air Vanuatu. In hindsight we were very lucky in slip in and out of Santo unlike many who got stranded. Having said that, Vanuatu but more especially Ratua Island, is a wonderful place to get stranded ! If one didn’t have to get back to the rat race it really wouldn’t matter if there were no planes !! We found the island offered a lovely mix of nature and culture. The temp was 30 degrees, mostly cloudy but that didn’t seem to matter. The 200 plus year old Balinese houses are so unusual and unique. We enjoyed our daily walks, swims and snorkelling. Both of us had a horse ride and I even had a swim with my horse. Time slowed down, we read books, observed nature and just enjoyed sitting around doing not much at all. We also enjoyed talking to Resort owner Leah and her wonderful staff of local Vanuatuans. Special thanks to Patricia, Sam, Johnny, Henry, Ollie and Edwige. We glimpsed our cooks but didn’t learn their names. They gave us a lovely variety of delicious food, morning, noon and night. So thanks ! We did have one tour away from the island. We crossed over by longboat to Malo Blue Pool with Henry as our guide. I’m glad I overcame my fear of deep water to do that. It was worth it. We would love to return one day. We’ve never been to anything like Ratua Island Resort before. It is a one off. I’m sure I’ll carry on thinking about our holiday for sometime yet.
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Date of stay: May 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Fly in and out of Santo.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Difficult review for me. Having previously owned and operated 4.5 star holiday accomodation, I prided myself on trying to constantly exceed guest expectations. To come to Ratua and experience what Brett and Leah have done and are doing is humbling to say the least. Leaving out the gorgeousness of Ratua Island itself, their attention to detail is simply amazing. This, combined with an absolute commitment to their guests, has me lost for adjectives. Do yourselves a favour and experience Ratua at least once in this lifetime. The best place, run by the best people.
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Date of stay: May 2023
Value
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Forget your shoes
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Maddy, thank you for your enquiry. Please can you contact Leah Fasher directly through our Ratua website ☺️
We would love to have you stay with us and look forward to it!
Hey Amanda, we were there November last year. I don't imagine it would get much hotter than it was then...maybe 32 to 35. The humidity is pretty high though, compared with Sydney, so if you're well acclimatised to air conditioning, it might be a bit of a shock. My wife and I thought our daughter who seems fairly sensitive to temp and humidity flu tuitions would have struggled there. There often a breeze though, and the water is always only a few steps away.
They arrange scuba diving trips for you with external companies who come by boat to pick you up. There is a lot of snorkeling just off the beach at the front of the resort. Email them for details of the scuba diving trips.
There are more places to choose from in the Luganville area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$562 - AU$950 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
ratua private island hotel luganville
LOCATION
VanuatuEspiritu SantoLuganville
NUMBER OF ROOMS
16
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