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We finally left the big city (10,000 people) of Port Vila on the island of Efate and sailed 60 miles north to Lamen Bay on the small island of Epi.  There is a small boarding school here and several hundred people live in surrounding villages.  But the most important thing about Lamen Bay is that they have a resident DUGONG which allows people to swim near it.  Dugongs are similar to manatees and are very common in some areas.  But they're also very shy and won't let you come near.  We had heard about this one from other cruisers and the MAIN reason we had come to Vanuatu was to find and swim with this dugong.  When we arrived and anchored in this beautiful bay we asked the locals about the dugong.  It hadn't been seen in several days so we settled down to wait, even if we had to spend the whole season there.  Fortunately, this bay also had some of the best snorkeling we've had.  Often two or three times a day, we would put on mask and fins and swim 5 minutes over to a beautiful coral area full of gorgeous tropical fish.  We had a wonderful time waiting.