Life on Tanna Island is super-simple.

Photo: David Kirkland

Tanna Island is an untouched South Pacific jewel.

From the air it looks like an uninhabited tangle of lush rainforest, but more than 20,000 ni-Vanuatu call the island home.

It's a one-hour flight south of Port Vila and flights are crammed with villagers going home or visiting relatives. There's one small town on the island called Lenakel with electricity and running water.

The rest of Tanna consists of bamboo huts villages hidden in the verdant undergrowth, connected by a network of walking tracks and dirt roads. One thing you'll notice on Tanna is the absence of overweight people. That's because the locals walk everywhere. They sport gleaming calf muscles from all their walking.

Life is super-simple: everyone grows what they eat and the rest of the time they take it easy or visit friends and family scattered around the island.

There are a handful of small resorts and basic accommodation providers on Tanna. White Grass Ocean Resort was one of the first and has good facilities. Friendly Bungalows is aimed at the backpacker market and is situated on a black-sand beach beneath Yasur Volcano.

By far Tanna's leading attraction is Yasur Volcano, the world's most accessible volcano. Tours to its rim run at sunset for a nightly lava light show. There's something primal and dangerous about standing on the rim of a live volcano watching the earth being formed in bursts of flying molten magma.

Tanna also boasts amazing snorkelling off most of its beaches. It's easy to find a secluded spot and spend a day alone with the fish and coral.

Organic coffee is a burgeoning industry on Tanna, so you won't have to go without your daily caffeine fix, and it's damn good.

Another culinary delight - if it can be called that - is the local kava. Each village has its own kava shack where the men meet each night and down 'shells' of the sedative. A word of warning, a half shell is ample…

The John Frum cult also lives on Tanna. They are an interesting group who meet every Friday night to encourage John Frum's return. Who is John Frum? Well he was a generous US soldier based on Vanuatu during World War II who loaded the locals up with gadgets such as fridges and radios. They believe he came from the sea to bless them and they sing and dance for his return. Hmmm.

Another unique Tanna ceremony is the Toka. It occurs once a year and goes for three days and nights non-stop. Participants dance and drum tirelessly as gifts such as pigs and food are bestowed on the village that hosted the previous Toka.