Champagne Beach

Beaches & CovesEspiritu Santo, Sanma,Vanuatu

A 350-metre white crescent on Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu where gas seeping up through the sand makes the shallows fizz at low tide.

September·Peaking now

May–Oct

May to October the south-east trades hold steady, and this bay, tucked in their lee, lies flat and clear enough to read the sand far out. It is the driest, coolest stretch — August the driest of all — with the sea near 27°C.

Year-round The white sand crescent, the coral bommies and the low-tide fizz are here all year, and the custom-land gate collects its fee year-round; the water's clarity, warmth and cyclone risk shift with the seasons.

Champagne Beach is a crescent of white sand 350 metres long on the northeast coast of Espiritu Santo, the largest island of Vanuatu, in Sanma province, where gas seeping up through the sand makes the shallows fizz and prickle around the ankles at low tide, and it is the most famous beach in the country, owned by the families of the village of Hog Harbour, who run the stalls and take the entry fee. The sand is white because the island is, since Santo is a block of old reef limestone hoisted out of the sea, and the bubbles are volcanic gas working up through the coral sand, felt on the falling tide as the water starts to prickle and bubble, the trick that gave the beach its name; the bay is barely 350 metres of coral-white sand from one forested headland to the other, walked in five minutes, with a wide middle of clean empty sand and the life gathered at the rocky southern end, where the bommies hold the reef fish and the snorkelling. The southeast trades blow steadily from May to October and the bay sits in their lee, so the shallows stay flat and clear while the exposed side of the island chops up. Foreigners cannot own a square metre of Vanuatu, only lease it, and the beach belongs to the Hog Harbour landholders, whose kitchens set back on the grass serve grilled fish, fruit and a coconut opened in front of the visitor rather than a concession, with the cruise ships anchoring off the bay a few days a month and the beach empty the rest. Santo is also the island of the SS President Coolidge, a troopship sunk in 1942 that is the largest wreck in the world dived from the shore, and of the blue holes, springs of blue fresh water in the forest, so the beach is one stop on a day around the north of the island from Luganville. Champagne Beach is a beach that fizzes, and the village that owns it is the host.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Come at low tide for the fizz — the bubbles only show as the water pulls back off the sand, and they are shy enough that many visitors never spot one.
Check the cruise schedule before you fix a date — when a ship anchors off, tenders land and around thirty market stalls go up. On other days you may share the sand with almost nobody.
You are stepping onto custom-owned land — the Hog Harbour families hold this beach under kastom title and collect a fee at the gate, which is how the village earns its living from it.

Things to do

1
Stand in the shallows as the tide drops
This is the beach's own trick, and it needs the falling tide: gas works its way up through the sand and the water around your ankles starts to prickle and bubble. It is faint, it comes and goes, and catching it is largely a matter of standing still and paying attention.
2
Snorkel the bommies in the southern corner
The wide middle of the bay is clean, empty sand, so the life is all gathered at the rocky southern end. Swim out to the coral heads there for reef fish in numbers and, now and then, a turtle. Bring your own mask — nothing is hired on the sand.
3
Walk the whole crescent in five minutes
Champagne Beach is smaller than its fame suggests: barely 350 metres of coral-white sand from one forested headland to the other. Come at first light, before the day's vehicles arrive from Luganville, and the walk end to end is yours, with the water at its stillest and the light low over the headland.
4
Buy lunch from the family that owns the beach
The stalls and kitchens set back on the grass are run by the Hog Harbour landholders, not a concession — grilled fish, fruit, a coconut opened in front of you. Together with the gate fee, it is what the village earns from the beach, and it is worth the few extra vatu.