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Vanuatu key art
Season 9 · 2004Men vs. Women

Vanuatu

Vanuatu

A men-vs-women season steeped in island ceremony, defined by one of the greatest solo escape acts the game has ever produced.

Year
2004
Location
Vanuatu
Format
Men vs. Women
Days
39 days
Castaways
18
Grand prize
$1,000,000
Jury vote
5-2

Also read at the Final Tribal Council

How Chris Daugherty won


The last man left against a women's alliance, Chris talked his way off the chopping block over and over — prying open every crack among the women to flip vote after vote until he'd outlasted them all.

The bigger picture

In context

Era

The Old School Era

2000–2010

Timeline

9th of 50

Aired 2004

Filming

Vanuatu

1st of 1 season filmed here

Starting tribes

The 2 tribes marooned when the game began — and where the names come from.

Lopevia Vanuatu volcanic island

The men's tribe, named after Lopevi, a volcanic island of Vanuatu.

Yasuran active Vanuatu volcano

The women's tribe, named after Mount Yasur, an active volcano on Tanna, Vanuatu.

At the merge · they became Alinta Merge tribe — proposed by Scout Cloud Lee; an Aboriginal Australian word for fire, glossed on the show as 'people of fire'.

Alliances born here

The named voting bloc that ran this season — the stories give away late-game moves, so they sit behind the idol.

The Yasur Alliance

S9 · Vanuatu
A fan name that stuck

Vanuatu's all-women bloc, led by Ami Cusack — one of the first dominant female alliances. The original Yasur women regrouped at the merge and blindsided Rory 6-4 to seize control, before Chris Daugherty's whispering and cracks within (Twila and Scout flipping) brought it down and carried Chris to an all-male-vote-flip win.

All the great alliances
Go deeper

Explore Season 9

Around the fire

Common questions

Who won Survivor Vanuatu?
Chris Daugherty won Survivor: Vanuatu (Season 9, 2004), taking the jury vote 5-2.
Where was Survivor Season 9 filmed?
Survivor: Vanuatu was filmed in Vanuatu.
When did Survivor Season 9 air?
Survivor: Vanuatu aired in 2004 and ran 39 days.
Who were the finalists in Survivor Vanuatu?
Chris Daugherty won at the Final Tribal Council alongside Twila Tanner.

Around the fire

The tribe's debating Survivor 9 right now

Cirie never needed an idol. She WAS the idol — read every vote a round early and bent the whole jungle to her will without a single immunity win. That's the cei…
MergeBeast · 64 🔥 and climbing

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Season 9 of 50