Royal Caribbean will finally open their private Lelepa Beach Club at Lelepa Island in Vanuatu at the beginning of 2027. It will be the first private island cruise destination in the Southern Hemisphere and is designed to offer a locally inspired experience for guests in Australia and beyond, complete with serene beaches, nature trails, water activities and delicious dining.

The project has been a long time coming and the scope of the beach destination has changed since it was originally announced. Back in 2022, Lelepa Island in Vanuatu was set to launch as Perfect Day at Lelepa and offer a scaled down version of the fun on offer at Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day destinations in the USA. However, the opening date was delayed due to COVID.

Royal Beach Club South Pacific at Lelepa is being created in partnership with the local community to showcase the natural ecological beauty and local culture of the island as well as provide employment and education opportunities. It will be the first carbon neutral private cruise destination in the world, with sustainability features designed to safeguard the island’s delicate ecosystems audited by an independent third-party expert to ensure they meet the standards for carbon neutrality.

Lelepa Beach Club things to do

When Royal Caribbean finally begins sailing to Lelepa, it will now be called a Royal Beach Club and have a different look and feel from Royal Caribbean’s popular Perfect Day islands. As cruisers who travel to the South Pacific are usually seeking authentic adventures and relaxation, the Beach Club brand should be a better fit for Vanuatu than huge waterslides, high energy activities and helium balloon rides.

Lelepa Beach Club will have more than 160 acres of tropical rainforest, palm fringed beaches, and nearby tropical reefs to explore. The island is also home to Fels Cave, a renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site with rock drawings up to 3,000 years old. Lelepa provides an educational insight into traditional island life as there are only a couple of small villages plus a school, a kindergarten and two churches.

Lelepa Beach Club cost

Visiting the new Beach Club at Lelepa Island in Vanuatu will be included in the cost of your cruise fare, but there will probably be at least a couple of special facilities or attractions that cost extra. If you aren’t travelling with kids, you’ll be pleased to know there is an adults-only area at Lelepa and it will be yours to enjoy for free.

Whether you are visiting the South Pacific for the first time or a long time fan of this beautiful spot, the new Royal Caribbean Beach at Lelepa promises to be the ultimate destination for island loving cruisers seeking cultural immersion and fun in the sun.

Want more great cruise advice? Check out our tips for choosing the perfect cruise, cruising with grandchildren, cruising with tweens and cruising with kids of all ages, solo cruising, the best activities on Ovation of the Seas, doing a Transatlantic cruise with kids, cruising in Australia or Papua New Guinea, Iceland cruise tips, cruising on a megaship, scoring a bargain cruise fare, cruising the Mediterranean, making the most of a cruise ship kids club, luxury cruising with kids, and the Byron Beach Club on Carnival Cruises. We have also reviewed Disney Wonder, Carnival Encounter, Celebrity Edge, Carnival Adventure, Quantum of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas, Carnival Splendor, Voyager of the Seas, Pacific Adventure, Nieuw Statendam, Viking Helgrim, Pride of America, Coral Expeditions in Tasmania and the Great Barrier Reef, Celebrity Solstice, and Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth.