New Caledonia Travel Guide

New Caledonia travel tips & advice

Unlike her neighbors, New Caledonia isn’t formed from volcanic matter. She is a small piece of a continent the existed in ancient times, which detached and floated away. Today she is the third largest island in the Pacific Region. Not bad for a runaway!

This French hideaway is home to the international competition, The Trophee des Alizes. Some of the world’s top athletes compete on The Bay of Anse Vata. Why not climb aboard your very own windsurfer, and see what sort of talent you’ve got locked inside? Not up to windsurfing? How about some snorkeling at the Amedee Lighthouse Reserve, then?

From July through September you can go on a whale watch on Lifou Bay. With any luck you’ll get to see the humpback whales as they frolic and play in their natural environment. Also, the coral barrier reef off of Noumea is the perfect place to hone your spear fishing skills, or take a ride on a glass-bottom boat and look in awe at the reef and all her indigenous inhabitants.

If you’re not really the water type, book yourself a suite at one of the spectacular mountain retreats. Hike through the forest of Mount Koghi or ride horses during the day, and grab your favorite drink and sit back and gaze at the stars by night.

For a little shopping, dining, and sightseeing, stop in at Noumea, the capital of Grande Terre. There’s lots to do in this small, but busy little town. You’ll find museums to visit, aquariums to stop at, and an assortment of colonial homes and buildings, a cathedral and best of all, the capital overlooks one of the world’s largest sheltered natural harbors.