It took four attempts and five years for us to finally visit Vanuatu and Chief Roi Mata’s Domain, thanks to Covid, issues with Air Vanuatu in the lead up to it going into administration and the recent earthquake. Luckily though, it was only in the aftermath of the earthquake that I came across M Resort, a luxury resort that opened in March 2024, just outside the site’s core zone on the northeastern coastline of Efate.

I thought a visit to the Chief Roi Mata’s Domain would be easy from the resort - it was literally in the buffer zone. But during the earthquake, landslides largely destroyed Fels Cave, probably the most memorable part of the site. The remaining section of the cave cannot be visited for now (or perhaps permanently) due to the danger of further falls. Plus I discovered that visiting Hat Island and the burial ground is considered taboo by local chiefs. The local boat trip we took wouldn’t visit it, but we did meet a small tour group that was intending to visit it - probably some tours from Port Vila disregard the taboo. 

However, quite by chance at first, we ended up visiting the former village and residence site, Mangaas. Our resort owner recommended walking to the nearby sandy beach, King’s Beach, and afterwards we realised it was the third corner of the core zone. It was only a 10-15 minute walk from our resort, so we later returned and explored the area thoroughly. Now fully reclaimed by jungle, starting from the large King’s Tree is a path that leads to a wooden carving, signposted sacred stones and the remains of stone walls. Tours generally arrive by boat, but now it’s also accessible by a rough dirt road past M Resort. We probably should have followed up the suggestion of a guided tour from someone in the village, to better understand it. 

Like many cultural landscapes, there’s not that much you can see, especially with the damage to Fels Cave and the taboo on visiting Hat Island. I felt most connected to the landscape when we paddled some kayaks off King’s Beach (see the photo). Sitting on a kayak (albeit a brightly coloured modern kayak) looking around me at the largely untouched islands, covered in jungle, the events of a few hundred years ago didn’t seem so distant.