Warwick Le Lagon Resort & Spa

Warwick Le Lagon has been the workhorse of Vanuatu family holidays for decades, and its formula endures: some thirty hectares of coconut gardens along the shore of Erakor Lagoon, ten minutes from Port Vila, where the water is flat, warm and safe—everything the open coast is not. Generations of Australian and New Zealand families have measured their children's growth against its kids' club, waterslides and lagoon kayaks.

Rooms, bungalows and villas spread through the gardens in relaxed Melanesian-influenced style, from practical garden rooms to lagoon-front bungalows worth the upgrade; the hibiscus-lined paths, roaming coconut crabs of legend and staff warmth carry much of the charm. Three pools (one adults-only), tennis, a nine-hole golf course adjacent and the full sweep of lagoon watersports keep every age occupied.

Evenings revolve around theme nights—the Melanesian feast with fire dancing is the keeper—alongside teppanyaki and relaxed poolside dining, and the spa's overwater-edge pavilions handle parental recovery. Erakor Island's ferry and Port Vila's markets are minutes away. Le Lagon is not cutting-edge, and does not try to be; it is Vanuatu's most dependable family machine, run with a big island heart.