White Grass, Western Tanna tide times

White Grass is a clifftop plateau on the western coast of Tanna Island, overlooking the Coral Sea. The plateau sits approximately 40 metres above the waterline; the reef below the cliff edge is accessible by a descent trail cut into the cliff face, and the offshore reef extends 200 to 400 metres seaward in 5 to 15 metres of water before the bottom drops to deeper water on the outer reef slope. The western coast of Tanna faces the prevailing Pacific trade wind swell, arriving unobstructed across the Coral Sea from the southeast, giving this coast a more energetic swell regime than the sheltered eastern coast at Port Resolution.

The tidal regime at White Grass is mixed semidiurnal, with a spring range of approximately 1.0 metre. The reef flat at the base of the cliff is narrow — 30 to 50 metres from the cliff base to the reef crest — and is exposed at low water springs for approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. At high water springs, the reef flat is submerged by 0.5 to 0.7 metres, and the wave action from the trade wind swell reaches the cliff base. The cliff-descent trail to the reef is passable in calms and light swell (below 0.5 metres); in stronger trade conditions the base of the cliff is wave-washed and the descent is not safe.

The reef on the outer slope below the cliff face has undisturbed coral cover — the western Tanna coast has low fishing pressure and no organised dive or snorkel tourism, which means the fish community reflects the natural state of a protected reef environment. Parrotfish, surgeonfish, and grouper are abundant; the outer slope has grey reef shark visible on the tidal current. The quality of the coral and fish community on this coast is considered among the best in Tanna by visiting researchers.

The Whitegrass plateau is the site of Tanna's only airstrip — Whitegrass Airport — which serves the island's domestic flight connections to Port Vila. Most visitors to Tanna land here and proceed to Lenakel, the main town 5 kilometres to the north. The plateau itself is named for the native grass that covers the open ground between the coconut palms and the cliff edge — a distinctive pale green in the dry season, more vivid in the wet.

The clifftop position gives unobstructed views over the Coral Sea westward to the horizon. On clear days in the dry season, the sea surface is visible for 30 to 40 kilometres. The sunset from the clifftop, over the Coral Sea, is the primary photographic event at this location; the Yasur glow on the mountain to the east is sometimes visible simultaneously in the opposite direction on clear evenings, creating a situation where an active volcano is in one direction and the sunset over open ocean is in the other.

Fishing from boats off the western coast targets reef species (grouper, coral trout) on the flood tide along the outer reef slope and trolls for wahoo, mahi-mahi, and yellowfin tuna in the blue water beyond. The trade wind swell creates working sea conditions for small boats in the dry season; the western coast is more sheltered in the wet season (November to April) when the wind pattern reverses.

Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge. The local tide authority is the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD).