Boats in New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a dependant territory in Oceania that forms part of the French Republic, but is not part of the European Union. The territory, in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, is formed by a main island, with several small islands around it.

New Caledonia has 2.254 Km. of shoreline, and more than 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic sea rights.

One can visit Barrage Yaté, taking the Noumea road which crosses the plain of the lakes; or Baye or Petit Couli with their traditional huts; or Hienghene, the “sitting chicken”, a rock sculpted by erosion; or the island of Lifu; or the Hut of the Chepenehes; the church at Nathalo (with its ceiling decorated with naïve art); or see Noumea, with its Oceanografic Museum which is unique in the world (Don’t miss the gallery of fluorescent corals under ultraviolet light… in the dark the corals shine like jewels); or the New Caledonian Museum ( artisanal objects from the island, Melanesian sculptures, ritual masks, body decoration, ethnographies from other islands, and a Natural History of New Caledonia); or in the surroundings the zoo where one can view New Caledonia’s specific animals (kagu, Uvea parrot, notu, panique).

New Caledonia lies in the Tropic of Capricorn, between 19º and 23º south. The islands climate is tropical with seasonal rains brought by the winds that usually blow from the east. Mean annual rainfall is 1.500 mm in the Loyalty islands, 2.000 mm in the lower regions of Grande Terre and between 2.000 mm y 4.000 mm in the highlands of Grande Terre.