Lelepa Island from a Cruise Ship

Sometimes, and only if your ship is in Port Vila long enough. The Lelepa Island day trip starts at 8:30 AM and lasts about eight hours, and it offers “special timing for cruise ship passengers if needed”. But it names no meeting point at the wharf and no fixed return time, and an independent tour does not guarantee your return to the ship; a cruise line’s own excursions do. Lelepa Island Day Tours Limited’s Port Vila: Lelepa Island Day Trip with Snorkeling & BBQ costs A$165 per adult (checked November 2026).

What the tour offers a cruise passenger

The day normally runs from a resort pickup up to an hour before 8:30 AM to a drop-off back at the same place about eight hours later, every day except Saturday. For cruise ship passengers the tour offers special timing if needed, without saying what the special timing is. The pickup is from an address inside a pickup area around Port Vila that you confirm when you book; no meeting point at the wharf is named.

Two reviewers did it on a ship day. One, on 2 January 2026: “We managed to do this on our cruise ship day out!!! And bonus made it back in time”. Another, on 30 October 2026, found the day cut short because of the cruise schedule, and was comfortable with the return time. That is two days that worked, not a promise.

The calendar above is the Lelepa day trip, with 132 reviews (checked November 2026).

Before you book on a port day

• Your ship’s times. You need the time you can be ashore and the all-aboard time. A day that starts at 8:30 AM and lasts eight hours fits only a long call.
• Where the bus collects you. You confirm the pickup address when you book; ask the operator, through your booking, where it collects cruise passengers and when it brings them back.
• What the shorter cruise day leaves out. The 30 October 2026 reviewer’s day was cut short. Ask what goes if your time is short.
• The return. An independent tour does not guarantee your return to the ship; a cruise line’s own excursion does. Leave a margin.
• Saturdays. The tour does not run on Saturdays, whatever day your ship calls.

You can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before, so if the operator’s answer does not fit your ship’s day, you can still step back.

Royal Caribbean guests at Lelepa

From late 2027 some Royal Caribbean ships are due to call at Lelepa itself, at the company’s own Royal Beach Club Lelepa, with guests taken ashore by tender. This day trip starts in Port Vila and has nothing to do with that beach club. Royal Beach Club Lelepa has what Royal Caribbean’s page says.