After a wonderful start in Fiji, our around-the-world adventure took us to its Pacific island neighbor, Vanuatu. The tropical country is a popular vacation destination for people from Australia and New Zealand, who come for the beaches and scuba diving.

We came for the post office.

While it doesn’t look anything like the promotional photo in the airport (above), which includes a plethora of marine life and even a postmaster on duty, the post office on Vanuatu’s Hideaway Island does have the distinction of being the world’s only underwater post office.

We stayed across the water at the lovely Vanuatu Beachfront Apartments on the island of Port Vila, and we were able to walk across a sandbar to Hideaway Island at low tide.

We’re both scuba divers, but Michael is a much better snorkeler than I am, so he had the honor of mailing our postcard to Wanda. The cards are waterproof, and you fill them out with pencil since ink would dissolve in the salt water.

After a few duck dives, the card was posted and we could enjoy a nice lunch on the island before taking the ferry back to the mainland.

In addition to comfortable accommodations and a friendly staff, our hotel had a lovely little swimming pool and free kayaks and paddle boards for guests to use. It was also just around the cove from the Beach Bar Vanuatu, which is one of the most delightful waterfront establishments we’ve encountered in our travels.

The owners of Beach Bar Vanuatu have created a wonderful community at their popular spot — along with serving delicious food with fresh ingredients from the island — and they host family-friendly events throughout the week. Every Friday night is a free beachfront fire show, and every Sunday evening they host the Kustam Karnival.

Featuring clowns, jugglers, acrobats and dancers, the carnival is a collaboration between the Beach Bar and Wan Smolbag Theatre, a Vanuatu community theater group. Shows begin at sunset, and it’s terrific entertainment for the price of a donation to the nonprofit.

Vanuatu also boasts many natural sites like the Mele Cascades. Over the past several years, however, many of these properties have been purchased by Chinese investors and turned into profit centers that don’t necessarily highlight or protect their beauty. We found that we preferred the beaches on Port Vila, and they’re free for everyone to enjoy.

Side note for those considering moving to a foreign country to get a passport: Vanuatu sells citizenship for around $150,000 USD. It’s sold so many passports — primarily to the Chinese — that the income now accounts for more than 30% of the country’s annual revenue. Because of the related political problems and ethical concerns, however, Vanuatu lost visa-free entry status in the UK in 2023, and other countries are examining their status as well. So these “golden passports” may be losing a bit of their luster in the coming years.

But that doesn’t do anything to tarnish the beauty of this lovely Pacific Island nation.