Meet the Vanuatuan Land Divers: The Original Bungee Jumpers

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In this article:

• Before there were bungee jumpers, there were Vanuatuan land divers.
• Still around today, Vanuatuan land divers tie vines to their ankles and jump from a 100-foot tower in what has become a rite of passage for men of the island nation.
• Though the ritual dates back centuries, it was briefly wiped out by European missionaries — only to return in the late 19th century amid a wave of anticolonial resistance.
• Now, tourists from around the world travel to the island nation in hopes of witnessing the Vanuatuan land divers firsthand.

Modern bungee jumping dates back to 1979 when members of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club decided to tie ropes to the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England and send themselves hurtling over the edge.

The practice was soon declared illegal and the jumpers were arrested shortly after their first jump. But that didn’t stop these crazy Brits.

Soon, they were bungee jumping from prominent United States landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Royal Gorge Bridge. By the year 1982, they were tying ropes to mobile cranes and hot air balloons and jumping out of those as well.

While the members of the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club were definitely revolutionaries in their own rights, they weren’t actually the ones to come up with the concept of bungee jumping. 

That credit goes to the land divers of Vanuatu, a country in the South Pacific Ocean that’s comprised of around 80 separate islands.

With a current population of under 350,000 people (98.5% of which are of Melanesian descent), Vanuatu is one of the few remaining strongholds where indigenous culture and religion have remained mostly untouched by the effects of globalization.

Nothing points to that fact better than their unique practice of “land diving,” which involves jumping head-first off a 100-foot-tall tower with only vines tied to your ankles.

It’s not clear what the survival rate of this act of courage is but, regardless, extreme sports enthusiasts have flocked from all over the world to Vanuatu in recent years in hopes of participating in the ritual. 

Today, land diving is a tradition that’s only practiced by men. However, according to legend, the very first Vanatuan land diver was a woman. Since then, land diving became a rite of passage for men in the country.

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Later, in the 19th century, the practice would fall into obscurity after being discouraged by missionaries only to experience a later resurgence as an attempt by the Vanuatuan people to reclaim their cultural identity. This is the strange story of Vanuatuan land diving and its place in the modern world. 

The Origins of Vanuatuan Land Diving

The practice of land diving, known as “Nagol” in Vanuatu culture, begins with a local legend. According to the story, a woman named Tamalie was married to a man that was a bit too sexually aggressive.

Frustrated and fearful of his sexual pursuits, Tamalie ran out into the forest to escape. As her husband chased after her, she climbed up into a banyan tree. 

When her husband climbed after her, she tied lianas (long, woody vines) to her ankles and jumped from the tree. The lianas broke her fall and allowed her to survive. Her husband, who had not tied lianas to his ankles, also jumped. With nothing to break his fall, the man plummeted to his death. 

Land diving was originally practiced by Vanuatuan women to honor Tamalie. However, the men of Vanuatu soon coopted the ritual as a display of masculinity that signified the transition into manhood in Vanuatuan culture. 

The Ritual of Land Diving

Most of the construction of the tower that is used for Nagol is done during the dry season when conditions are most ideal. During this time, women are not allowed to go near the tower.

If they do, Tamalie, who is believed to live inside it, may seek her revenge and cause the diver to die.

The center of the tower is made from a tree trunk with vines wrapped around it for support. They also till the soil below the tower to make it softer for the diver’s impact. The entire construction process usually takes around two to five weeks.

A lot of technical preparation goes into the ritual. Above all, a village elder needs to select vines to match the diver’s height and weight. If it’s too long, the diver might collide with the ground too hard. If it’s too short, the diver could swing and collide with the tower. 

The day before the dive, Vanuatuan land divers will settle any unfinished business or disputes in case they should die. Then, they sleep underneath the tower to ward off any evil spirits.

The next day, the divers are anointed with coconut oil and decorated with body paint. Men and women gather around in song and dance, and it’s time to jump. 

A jumper first salutes the crowd and then crosses his arms across his chest to break the impact with the ground. Then, he jumps. It is believed that the higher the man jumps, the more bountiful the harvest that year will be.

If everything goes according to plan, when the vines go taut and the diver’s shoulders brush the ground, a massive crack of wood can be heard for miles around. Then, a group of men rushes over to free the man from his tethers and the ritual is over. 

The tower from which the men dive represents the body. The platform represents the penis while the struts of the tower represent the vagina. Thus, a successful dive is believed to enhance the health, fertility, and strength of the diver.

Land diving is, above all, a show of masculinity but it’s also believed to be able to cure the illnesses that are associated with the wet season in Vanuatu.

Vanuatuan Land Divers in the Modern Era

These days, land diving is only practiced by the inhabitants of Southern Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. In the mid-19th century, the practice was forbidden by missionaries that were colonizing Vanuatu so many islands were forced to forego the ritual.

Then, in the 1970s, a new wave of anticolonial resistance inspired the people of Southern Pentecost Island to bring it back, making quite an impact worldwide. Now, it’s the only island that still does it. 

In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain took a trip to Vanuatu. The British colonial administration wanted the Queen to have an interesting tour, so they asked the Vanuatuan land divers to perform the ritual.

The locals resisted at first because it was out of season. But eventually, they gave in and agreed. The results were disastrous. Both of the diver’s lianas snapped during the jump. The diver broke his back and later died in the hospital. 

In 1970, an article came out in National Geographic Magazine that recounted the experiences of Kal Müller, the first white person to perform a land dive. He spent several months with the villagers of Bunlap on Southern Pentecost Island until they invited him to participate in the ritual. The dive was successful and Kal Müller lived to tell the tale. 

These days, the opportunity to watch Vanuatuan land divers in action has become a large tourist attraction bringing visitors to the island nation. This has sparked a debate about whether outsiders should be allowed to witness the ritual and, if so, how to preserve its integrity and cultural significance in the face of commercialization.

Some believe that land diving ceremonies are too sacred. Others say you can’t really blame tourists for wanting to witness such a fascinating ritual and daring feat of strength and courage. Plus, those tourists can also inject revenue into the local economy if it’s managed responsibly.

In an effort to strike that balance, a tourism board in Vanuatu has been appointed to oversee the ceremonies and ensure that they retain their original cultural significance.