We left our friends behind in Port Sandwich and spent the day motoring in calm seas over to Pentecost Island. Since early on in researching Vanuatu we’d been finding things about the Pentecost Land Diving, and it sounded like something we couldn’t miss, even if (or perhaps because) it was sure to be a strange, awkward experience for us all.
We went ashore in the morning to meet with Bartholomew, who would arrange a truck and the introductions to the village where we’d witness the land diving. There was a village on the beach at the anchorage and we drew a small crowd as we made our way out to the road to wait for a truck. A couple from another boat arrived, and we settled in for an hour or so as Bartholomew tapped away on his ancient Nokia trying to find a driver who felt like going up into the mountains.
It was about half an hour up into the mountains, and upon arrival the chief immediately came down to introduce himself. Bartholomew had made clear to us beforehand that we should make eye contact when shaking hands, and it was obvious right away that that small sign of respect was something they took seriously.
The true origin story of Pentecost’s land diving is a little murky, but it seems to revolve around a woman being a little too vigorously pursued by her husband in bed. One story goes that she climbed a banyan tree to escape him and tied vines to her ankles. When her husband caught up to her she leapt, and he followed. The vines saved her while her tormentor tumbled to his death. Another has the man with the vines leaping to save the woman. And I’m sure there are many more variations.
Eventually land diving became a way to ask the gods for a good yam harvest, and while initially it was the women who did the diving, over time the men took over and it became a show of bravery as well as an introduction to manhood for young boys.
Originally the diving took place from banyan trees, but over time purpose built towers were constructed instead. Incredible contraptions.
I should probably point out that this is a traditional village. Men wear only a nambasa (penis wrap), and women grass skirts.
The tribe stands beneath the tower dancing and chanting throughout the ceremony. It would have been fascinating to know what their chants were saying.
Boys usually begin land diving around age ten. As they get older they move higher up the tower. One man that dove this day was in his sixties. I asked him afterwards how many times he had done this. “Many. Many years.” He seemed quite proud of his longevity.
As they dive they tuck their arms in and are supposed to leap as far out as possible. As they fall the vines break through the platform (the platform breaks free and tilts down) to reduce the impact slightly.
This, apparently, is what happens if you dive down instead of out. It was shocking to see the impact, but a relief to see that everyone was laughing afterwards. I asked our guide what was so funny and he explained that the diver jumped down, not out. And also that one of the vines broke during the jump. I’m not sure why this was all so funny, but was happy to see that the boy did get straight up. I have to think the laughter of the men had to have stung, though.
You can see the scars from the vines across the legs of the men. Land diving is only done during this time of year, when the vines have the most elasticity. At other times of year they are dry and will snap (like they did on the boy, despite the season).
Feeling a bit like time travelers.
Every man looked strong enough to bust open coconuts with his bare hands.
They were constantly tilling the soil for a softer impact.
You can see that the experienced older men were sure to dive out as far as possible from the tower.
On a good jump their head and chest would snap back just short of the dirt slope, and as their heads went up their legs would hit as the vines pulled them towards the tower.
While many of the men danced with plain sticks, the chief of the village was the only one allowed to have a painted, carved stick. It identifies him as the chief, and I presume gives him a weapon that others won’t have to use against him.
This boy’s father was very proud after his first jump.
There were five jumps this day, and afterwards we made our way back to the village for a lunch of chicken and taro laplap (Vanuatu’s national dish).
Ouest was a huge hit with all of the kids.
They were really intrigued with Ouest’s long fingernails.
After lunch we said our goodbyes and rode the truck back down the mountain. The island’s trading ship was anchored off the beach and they were all busy unloading.
On our trip over the day before the autopilot had started to act up again, so before we took off I replaced the rudder sensor with the new one we had shipped in. I wasn’t 100% convinced this was the problem, but it was the only thing I could think of. Fortunately, we’d find out that night it had solved the problem. Autopilot reactivated.
As the sun went down we pulled the anchor back up and headed out to sea again. Most of the hops in these islands aren’t much more than 40 or 50 miles, which we kind of like to do at night rather than spend an entire day at sea going from Point A to Point B. We sailed away from Pentecost Island thankful for the experience we’d just had.
23 Comments on “Pentecost Land Diving”
Simply an amazing experience. Great pictures; great story; great experience. IMO, the best post ever!
Thanks, Kam. It was truly a very unique, unforgettable experience.
I assumed they were diving into the water. The diving is something to watch!
Wow…speechless….I too thought they were diving into water…..way to go Bums more great pics….
Well, that was awesome. 😎
Of course Ourst was the star.
This is some NatGeo level posting, son 😉
Well done. 👍
Ouest. Autocorrupt is corrupting…
Cash just graduated. Times fun when you’re having flies.
Oh my goodness, our kids are getting so big! Congrats to Cash! Hopefully we catch up again at some point.
Glad you could witness the land diving. We went in June, but they said too late in season. We did walk to a tower, so you must have gone further up in the mountains.
Yes it was about a 30-minute drive up the mountain. It seems there are two villages that do land diving on Pentecost. 2024: one village ended on June 29, and the other (the one we went to) goes until July 20.
Definitely a NatGeo moment! I remember reading my dad’s NatGeo about 55 years ago about this island and seeing the pictures of them diving off the platform. It’s great to see life hasn’t changed for them and cultural traditions are still practiced.
This was truly amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us.
This must be one of your most interesting and culturally-intriguing posts. Fascinating. What a wonderful experience for your entire family. Keep it coming! (We are heading out to Yellowstone in our Barbie RV – not quite the same as your adventure.)
Wow! What an experience! Yes, a NatGeo day. Thank you for the reminders of the ways that others live.
Loved the pics! What a great experience!
This was fascinating. Love the photos too.
Another great read! What a life!
Nice job capturing your experience with the photos and commentary….interesting read. I would have had a hard time watching the 10 y/o boy hitting the ground and then being laughed at by the older men. I get that it’s a tribal rite of passage, but man that’s a little harsh for this old heart. How did Ali and the kids react?
It reminded me of a time my wife and I were on a beach in St Maarten and observed a man heaving young puppies into the sea while his young children laughed with joy watching the puppies struggle to get back on land. When they finally did get back to the beach and tried to run away, the kids would snatch them up and do it all over again. I notified a security guard standing nearby and he just shrugged.
Vanuatu is definitely a hard place to be a mother of a boy (the circumcision ritual still practiced today – oh my). I had my eyes closed after each jump. 🙂
And there is no way I wouldn’t have gone up and stopped that man from heaving those puppies (Pat would have been involved). Even at the bus stop waiting for our truck to bring us up the mountain, there was the village dog that went from person to person. A little kid was gently hitting him on the head with a stick – and I wagged my finger at him. He stopped. 🙂
Love how holding hands is a universal sign of friendship!
Exactly. They didn’t approach us until we did after the ceremony was finished.
Fantastic post Pat and Ali. I remember reading about land diving many decades ago in National Geographic. I may even have seen a film about it since. Your post, however, is the best of all. I now feel I understand the history and reasoning behind this tradition. My conclusion? The male species all around the world seeks out ‘right-of-passage’ experience in order to signify the transition from child to man.
I have been following you from your first blog post, and I have to say, this is definitely one of the most awesome adventures you have shared. What a cool tradition they have, and that you got to witness. How incredible this world is….!
Fantastic post! I can feel your sense of awe and wonder 😊