Welcome to New Caledonia Coral Reef
Location:
Grande Terre Island, New Caledonia.
Address:
14 rue Jean Jaurès-Place des Cocotiers. 98 800 Nouméa.
Length:
1500 km
Lagoon’s area/surface:
24000 km²
Deep average:
25 m
Cities:
Nouméa, the capital of New Caledonia.
Telephone:
+687 287580
Website:
E-mail:
centre.ville@office-tourisme.nc
When to go:
April – October, when here is the winter, dry season. Avoid the rainy season between November and March when is the danger of hurricanes.
How to get here:
By car:
You can rent a car on the island to go from a place to another.
By plane:
You can get here direct or with stops (depending from which country you are coming) from any part of the world. La Tontouta International Airport from capital Nouméa has direct flights to and from Auckland in New Zealand, Sydney in Australia or Tokyo in Japan.
By ship:
Most of the companies with ships have regular routes from several cities of Australia and the travel time is few days. There are many companies which offer cruises and have one of the stops in New Caledonia.
New Caledonia Coral Reef
Location, flora and fauna and the importance of New Caledonia Coral Reef:
The Barrier Reef from New Caledonia is considered to be the second double barrier reef from the world after Belize. This wonderful and sensitive creation of nature surrounds the biggest island from New Caledonia, Grande Terre Island. The lagoon with corals is the biggest from the world with a surface of 24000 km². With such a big size tourists can meet a large variety of flora and fauna with many species protected by law. On the French Government proposal in 2002, the double coral reef from New Caledonia was included on 7th July 2008 in UNESCO World Heritage. The average distance where the barrier is situated from the shore is 30 km and the length is about 1500 km.
As so beautiful is, as so sensitive, this New Caledonia barrier reef a creation the nature needed hundreds of millions of years to compose. That’s why we have to be careful what we do and how we preserve in good conditions what we have, so the next generations can enjoy them. The huge lagoon shelters a large number of species of animals over 15.000, from which over 2.000 are species of fish, plenty of them considered endemics, unique species unprecedented in many places in the world. Also, here you can see over 5.500 species of mollusks, over 5.000 species of crustaceans, over 600 species of sea sponges and over 350 species of algae. Among the fauna species we mention the dugong or manatee known also as the sea elephant, Nautilus species, an ancient cephalopod of 450 millions of years, some species of sea snakes like Tricot Raye and Yellow Bellied Sea Snake. Also here in New Caledonia coral reef live over 20 species of water loving birds and the well known green sea turtle which loves these waters and reproduce here. Other species of turtles from here are the sea turtle (hawksbill turtle), the square-headed turtle (loggerhead turtle) and many others.
The spectacular coral reef from New Caledonia
Tourism, what to see and do and the dangers for New Caledonia Coral Reef:
Unfortunately the ecosystem of these coral reefs is daily threatened all over the world and is very sensitive, that’s way the number of tourists must be limited and it is recommended to go with a guide. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) The main dangers which are threatening the double coral reef are the intensive erosion caused by the nickel mining in excess, the destruction of the mangrove forests which led to a growing layer of sediments, the massive industrial development over the coast and the pollution, the global warming and many others. Due to these dangers many of the species existing here are in danger of extinction and are strictly protected by law. Tourism on New Caledonia Island is very well developed, so you can choose to come here even 3-4 weeks and for sure you won’t get bored.
Today Nouméa the capital offers you different tourist attractions, different packages for every budget to choose and keep you occupied. For a unique place in the world, any visit in New Caledonia must include an aquatic activity to enjoy the double coral barrier reef. Tens of companies from Nouméa and other small cities of the island offer trips by boat (from a few hours to real cruises), snorkeling possibilities or scuba diving, visits on Pines Island (a popular destination for scuba diving from New Caledonia), boat trips to see the wales, kayak rents, surfing possibilities, a trip with catamaran or fishing and many others. Visit New Caledonia coral reef!
The coral reef from New Caledonia, air view
