Lifesavers Bring Big Skills to a Small Vanuatu Island
If you thought Bondi Beach was the only place to spot Australia’s most famous lifeguards, think again.
Through a partnership with Carnival Cruise Line, the iconic lifeguards swapped red and yellow flags for coconut trees as they arrived on Vanuatu’s Mystery Island – delivering lifesaving skills to communities who need them the most.
Over the course of a packed, sandy-footed week, the lifeguards trained more than 100 Vanuatu residents across Mystery Island, nearby Aneityum and Port Vila – empowering them with practical, confidence-building skills like spotting dangerous rip currents, floating to survive and performing CPR and first aid.
Despite being a nation made up of 80+ islands where everyday life frequently involves water travel and time in the ocean, many participants had never received formal water safety training. And in a country with one of the world’s highest drowning rates, this kind of knowledge goes a very long way.
“It’s really important for Vanuatu because they’re on islands, there’s water all around them, and they don’t grow up learning these skills,” said Bruce “Hoppo” Hopkins, a Bondi lifeguard.
“Most of our community, they have no idea how to do those activities here,” said Mystery Island tour operator, Nelson Tom Nautek.
The hands-on training effort is part of Carnival Cruise Line’s Pacific Partnerships, a program designed to uplift and support communities across the South Pacific – not just with economic development opportunities and funding, but with real education.
Through the same initiative, Carnival also supports Learn to Swim programs in Vanuatu’s Port Vila, where more than 200 children have already taken their first strokes toward safer oceanic futures.
