Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text:
Français Surprise of the day: I received a postcard from Vanuatu. A waterproof card, sent from a post office... underwater!
A postcard from far away: Vanuatu!
I discovered the postcard on my way back from lunch. Someone left it on my desk.
It is Didier, a reader of Small Bubbles of Elsewherewho sent it to me. This passionate diver-traveler, had the pleasure of discovering Vanuatu, in July. We met IRL (in real life) in January 2013, at the diving lounge. I can't believe it! First of all, I am very touched by this friendly attention, it is really adorable from him...
And then, above all, this postcard is not commonplace. Not only because it comes from the other side of the world, in the middle of Oceania, but also because it was posted... under the sea! I love it !!!! 😃
This waterproof postcard is made of a special material, which looks like paper but has the resistance of plastic. Kitsch as you like, with a "nice" photomontage, it represents the one and only underwater post office in the world.
Unbelievable!!! 😮
The only underwater post office in the world
It's a real post office, all official.
It is located at a depth of 3 meters, about 50 meters from the shore of the island of Vanuatu which is called "Hideaway", Didier tells me, in the little note he wrote me on the back of the map. What a beautiful name!
The post office even has its own official website:
→ Underwater Post Office - Vanuatu Post
To learn more about this unique post office in the world, accessible by scuba diving or snorkeling, I invite you to read this article published in 2011 on the site of Plongeur.com :
→ Submarine mailman in Vanuatu, how's that sound?
No, really, receiving a card posted underwater from Vanuatu, that's not trivial... And if one day I'm going to dive there, I think I won't resist the pleasure to post one too. Many thanks for this travel and underwater wink, Didier !!!
👌
Update : but the most incredible part of the story is what I just learned, just after publishing this post, while chatting with Didier on Facebook. I copy and paste his message below:
"Glad you like it, Corinne! ???? In fact, this idea came to me naturally, especially since it was original to say the least... But the craziest thing in all this is that I am surprised that it reached you ! Indeed, while diving, I lost it ! That means that someone found it, and put it in the box instead of me! Incredible and therefore doubly happy ! 😉 "
Crazy, right? When you think of the number of things lost underwater and never found... Even more powerful than the bottle in the sea!
Finally, I also put below a video of the submarine post office, found on YouTube (but turn off the sound, the music hurts your ears):
