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.

At Champagne Beach the water starts to prickle around your ankles as the tide goes out. Gas works its way up through the sand and comes out in strings of small bubbles, which is the trick the beach is named for. It is faint and it comes and goes, and plenty of people stand in it without noticing. The sand is white because the island is. Espiritu Santo is old reef limestone levered out of the sea, former seabed now standing as hills, and rain sinking through that porous rock resurfaces across the island as springs and blue holes. On one reading it is also what is coming up through this beach. The crescent is smaller than its reputation: barely 350 metres from one forested headland to the other, walked end to end in five minutes. The middle is clean sand with little living in it, so the fish gather at the rocky southern end, where coral heads sit close enough to snorkel from the beach. Nothing is hired on the sand, so you bring your own mask. The bay faces northeast, in the lee of the trades that blow May to October, so the shallows stay flat while the exposed side of Santo chops up. At first light, before the vehicles come up from Luganville, you have the whole beach. The stalls and kitchens set back on the grass belong to the families of Hog Harbour, not to a concession: grilled fish, fruit, a coconut opened while you wait. When a cruise ship anchors off, tenders land and about thirty stalls go up; on the days between, hardly anyone is standing in the bubbles. Foreigners cannot own a square metre of Vanuatu; the constitution of 1980 gave all the land back to its custom owners. So the most photographed beach in the country has landlords rather than rangers, and what they charge at the gate can change from year to year.

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.