So your flights are booked, fake tan has been sprayed and you have an overflowing suitcase full of kaftans. Aside from the obvious cocktails-at-sunset-by-the-pool, there is a lot to see and do in New Caledonia that might not seem evident from tourist paraphernalia.
Escapade Island Resort is located on the island of Ilot Maître, 20 minutes by ferry from Noumea. Aside from the luxury accommodation available, there is also a portion of the island that’s open to the public with BBQ areas free of charge. You can walk the perimeter of the island in 35 minutes, and it was on this walk that I discovered this somewhat deserted stretch of beach.
While my colleagues enjoyed all manner of water sports on one side of the island, Jaharn from Mister Weekender, Kerry from Eat Drink and be Kerry and I hung out in the shallow waters and white sandy shore of the tip of the island, which pretty much summed up my experience of New Caledonia.
You can hike in the mountains, visit the Tjibaou cultural center and enjoy water sports or you can simply find a stretch of pristine sand and soak in the world’s largest costal lagoon.
My experience was that the wilderness and UNESCO protected coral reefs are really where you want to spend your time in New Caledonia. It’s not a shopping destination, or somewhere you go for $2 beers and night markets full of tourist tat.
The nightlife is fabulous and I found it cost me roughly the same as a night out in Melbourne, only difference was that I was partying in a large, open-air bungalow over a clear water lagoon. SRSLY. A glass of white wine cost me $8AUS, in the hotels everything is more expensive, but I think that’s standard the world over.
So by day I would snorkel and swim with turtles, by night I’d sip chilled wine at a bar with a French DJ spinning 90s hip-hop.
Pretty perfect really.
