Pentecost Land Diving

One of the most extraordinary cultural spectacles on earth, the naghol, or land diving, of Pentecost Island is an ancient ritual said to have inspired the modern bungee jump. Each year in the harvest season, the men of the island's villages construct towering wooden towers, up to 30 metres high, from tree trunks and branches. One by one, they climb to precarious platforms and leap headfirst toward the ground, with only two liana vines, carefully cut to length, tied to their ankles to break the fall just before impact, a breathtaking act of courage performed to ensure a good yam harvest and prove their manhood.

History

The ritual, called gol in the Sa language of southern Pentecost, explains itself through a legend told to David Attenborough in 1959 by a local chief and famous jumper: a wife fled her husband up a tree, dared him to jump, and leapt with vines tied secretly to her ankles - she lived and he died, and the men built towers taller than the tree so they would never be tricked again. The jumps belong to the yam harvest, held each year in April, May or June, when a good dive is meant to ensure a rich crop and to drive out the illnesses of the wet season. The towers stand 20 to 30 metres high, and the ritual has grown into a visitor attraction (Wikipedia, Land diving).

What to look for

• The land diving - the men leaping from the towers with vines.
• The wooden towers - the towering hand-built dive platforms.
• The singing and dancing - the village celebration around the ritual.
• The custom - the ancient harvest and courage tradition.

When to go

The land diving takes place only in a limited season, roughly April to June, when the vines are at the right elasticity and the yam harvest approaches, with jumps held on certain days; it must be timed carefully and reached by a flight to Pentecost and local transport, usually on an organised tour.

Good to know

This is a sacred, dangerous traditional ritual, not a staged tourist show, so it is held only in season on specific days, requires careful timing and a flight to a remote island, and should be witnessed with deep respect; injuries and even deaths have occurred in this genuinely perilous act. For the rare privilege of witnessing one of the world's most astonishing living rituals, the ancient forerunner of the bungee jump, though, it is unforgettable and profoundly moving.

Nearby

The other islands of Vanuatu are reached by internal flights.