Vatu Exchange: A Cruising Sailor's Guide to Currency in Vanuatu

Vatu Exchange:

A Cruising Sailor's Guide to Vatu

You dropped anchor in Port Vila or Luganville, cleared customs, and now the crew wants a cold drink, fresh produce, and a nice dinner. One problem: your wallet is full of Australian dollars, US dollars, or Euros, and Vanuatu runs on Vatu. Cash is king here, and outside Port Vila and Luganville, credit cards barely work at all.

Every season a few yachts arrive prepared, and a lot more arrive without a plan. Here's how to handle currency exchange in Vanuatu depending on what's aboard your boat right now.

Type 1: The Wise Card Yachties

If a Wise card is already in your wallet, you're ahead of most cruisers in the anchorage. A few things make the difference between a smooth trip and a surprise fee:

• Always choose to be charged in Vatu, never in your home currency, when an ATM or terminal offers the option. Accepting "home currency" conversion at the machine hands the exchange rate decision to the local bank, and it costs 5-10% more.
• Withdraw the maximum in one go. Vanuatu ATMs carry a per-transaction fee on top of anything Wise charges, plus a hidden card fee around 1,100 Vatu per withdrawal. Pulling out the max (roughly 50,000 Vatu, or about 600 AUD) in one transaction spreads that fixed cost over more cash, instead of paying it three times for three smaller withdrawals.
• Watch for card surcharges at shops. Few shops in Vanuatu accept credit cards and those that do add a 3-4% card fee. If you have cash, use that instead of the card.
• Top up before you leave the main islands. ATMs thin out fast once you're away from Port Vila and Luganville, and the outer islands often have none at all or those that are there are empty.

A Wise card won't remove every fee in Vanuatu, but it strips out the worst of the bank markups, and the mid-market rate it uses beats what most currency counters offer.

Type 2: The Cash-Loaded Yachties

Arrived with a stash of AUD, USD, NZD, or EUR aboard? You're in a strong position, because cash almost always gets a better rate than a card swipe or a bank transfer.

• Compare Goodies, No1 Currency, and Western Union before choosing. Worth knowing: No1 Currency, Goodies Forex, and Fexco Pacific share the same parent company, so don't expect the signs on the street to mean real competition between them. Still worth a quick compare, since branch-to-branch rates can vary.
  
  

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  Goodies Money Exchange has three locations around Port Vila
  (Opposite The Grand Hotel (close to Yachting World),
  opposite Market House and at Olympic Court

   
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  Goodies has a branch in Luganville opposite The Espiritu Hotel.
  Hours 7:30am-4:30pm weekdays, shorter on weekends

• No1 Currency is the most convenient for odd hours — the Bauerfield Airport branch runs 4am-11pm daily. But you'll have to pay a taxi to get there and back and airport exchanges always give the worst rates.
• Bred Bank often beats the exchange counters for GBP, Swiss Francs, and Pacific Francs specifically, so if you're carrying one of these, check Bred first.
• Bring your passport. Every exchange counter and bank asks for photo ID.
• Exchange enough before heading to outer islands. Once you leave Port Vila or Luganville, currency exchange options disappear almost entirely. A good estimate is at least 400,000 or 500,000 Vatu for your 90 day cruise.
  

Type 3: The Credit Card-and-Bank-Transfer Yachties

No Wise card, no cash stash, just a credit card and the option to wire funds? This route works, but it's the most expensive of the three, so a little planning goes a long way.

• Bank branches in Port Vila and Luganville exchange foreign notes, and ANZ, BSP, National Bank of Vanuatu, and Bred all offer the service during weekday banking hours (generally 8:30am-3pm, closed weekends).
• A cash advance on a credit card works in a pinch, but expect both an ATM fee and a cash-advance fee from your home bank on top of the local charge.
• The long-term fix is a Wise card, ordered before you leave Australia or New Zealand. It takes a a week to 10 days to arrive, so if this is you and you're still in port at home, this is the moment to sort it out rather than face Vanuatu's rates with only a Visa in hand.

👉 Order a Wise card here before you cast off — it's the one piece of gear that pays for itself in the first few withdrawals. (Affiliate link — a small commission comes our way at no extra cost to you.)

The One Rule That Applies to Everyone

Whichever type of yacht you are, don't leave Port Vila or Luganville short on Vatu. ATMs and exchange counters are scarce to nonexistent once you're out among the islands, and running low on cash mid-cruise is a far bigger headache than any exchange fee.

Sail safe, budget smart, and enjoy Vanuatu.

For the full picture on banks, ATMs, and money matters across the archipelago, open the Rocket Travel Guide to Vanuatu, click on the where to stay, eat and shop then click on Banks Rocket Cruising Guide to Vanuatu.