Gabriele Steindl: Professional Kitesurfer & Freelance Writer - Action, Lifestyle & Travels

Vanuatu had been on my explorer radar for many years. Already in 2015, I had made plans for a trip there, which had to be put on ice when the most powerful cyclone in the South Pacific ever — Cyclone Pam — struck. Buildings and infrastructure were flattened, roads, food stocks and water sources damaged or destroyed, 95% of crops (in Vanuatu your food garden is your lifeline) were wiped out and over 188000 people (more than half the national population) affected.

Four years later, most of Vanuatu has recovered from the after-effects of Pam and I was able to accomplish what I had set my explorer-mind on many years earlier.

Kitesurfing is still in its infancy in Vanuatu, despite the SE trade winds blowing consistently in southern hemisphere winters. Always on the hunt for lonesome sessions off-the-beaten-kitesurf-path and as a passionate surfer, Vanuatu — with numerous top-level surf breaks — had everything I was looking for in a destination.

Read all about my explorer adventure in this amazing island nation searching for surf pearls amongst active volcanoes and tropical forests thick with indigenous culture.