New Caledonia family-friendly travel guide

New Caledonia enjoys a sub-tropical climate year-round, with maximum temperatures averaging between 25 degrees Celsius and 27 degrees Celsius in the warm season from September to March, and between 20 degrees Celsius and 23 degrees Celsius in the cooler months from April to August. Trade winds and occasional cool evenings may require warmer clothes. Rainfall generally passes quickly, although can come in heavy downpours.

From November to April average temperatures are around 25 degrees Celsius. There is semi-frequent rainfall during this period, with February typically being both the hottest and wettest month of the year.

From the winter months of May to September the weather is only slightly cooler than the summer months in New Caledonia. August is the coolest month of the year, with temperatures dropping as low as 17 degrees Celsius.

Make sure your passport is valid for at least six months from the date you intend to return to your home country.

Visit the website of the French Consulate-General in Sydney  or contact an Embassy or Consulate of France for up-to-date information.

If you are visiting New Caledonia for tourism and you have a return ticket, you generally won’t need a visa, unless your stay will be longer than six months.

New Caledonia is 1500 kilometres from the East Coast of Australia and 1700 kilometres northwest of New Zealand, at a similar latitude to Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands. It is a two-hour flight from Brisbane and 2.5 hours from Sydney and Auckland.

Nouméa has an excellent bus system that is cheap, fast, frequent and simple to use. Routes are colour-coded according to destination and cover all the major tourist destinations in the city.

The cheapest and easiest way for visitors to explore Nouméa, Le Petit Train visits all major sites of interest and stops at major hotels and resorts. Passengers can board and disembark as often as they like on a single day ticket.

The high-speed catamaran Betico sails several times a week from Nouméa to the Isle of Pines and Loyalty Islands. Water taxis are also available to islets in the Nouméa area, departing from Anse Vata.

New Caledonian cuisine is as varied as its ethnic groups. It combines the omnipresent French culinary arts with Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Japanese and Melanesian cooking traditions.

While you’re there, try the traditional New Caledonian meal called bougna, which entails chicken, manioc, yams and sweet potato wrapped up in banana leaves and steamed in an earth oven warms by stones.

Eating out with a family may get expensive so it is a good idea to stock up at the local supermarkets and delicatessens or visit the waterfront market.

Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, is known as “Little Paris”, so you can find quite a lot of French goods, whether it be clothing, jewellery, perfume, chocolates or china. Local arts and crafts are also available in Noumea as well as roadside stalls and there is excellent duty free shopping.

New Caledonians do not tip or haggle.

As New Caledonia is quite warm, wear light, loose-fitting clothing. If attending religious occasions, dress conservatively.

Remember that New Caledonia is home to a number of cultural groups, so it is a good idea to be receptive to the tone of the other person and respond in kind. When in doubt, it’s best to smile, speak slowly and be respectful of space.

When meeting both Europeans and Kanaks (or Melanesians), you can make eye contact and extend your hand in a handshake. Melanesians may not return your gaze, and may shake your hand gently, and both of these gestures are out of politeness.

The French, among family and friends, usually greet each other by kissing each other on both cheeks, however not in workplaces.

Voltage is 220 V and the frequency is 50 Hz. You will need an adapter for an F-type plug.

No vaccinations are necessary to visit New Caledonia. Outbreaks of dengue fever sometimes occur during summer months, during which visitors should take precautions against mosquitoes. New Caledonia is free of all other tropical diseases including malaria. Remember to always take out travel insurance when heading abroad.

New Caledonia experiences cyclones, severe weather, flooding, mudslides, earthquakes, tsunamis and bushfires. The New Caledonian Department of Emergency Management leads responses to natural disasters and severe weather.

The official language of New Caledonia is French, and not much English is necessarily spoken.

Hello/Good day/Good morning – Bonjour
Good evening – Bonsoir
Please (formal) – S’il vous plaît
Please (informal) – S’il te plaît
Thank you (very much) – Merci (beaucoup)
I am from – Je suis de…
I am (x) years old – J’ai (x) ans

Take a trip to the Isles of Pines and head down to Oro Bay. The lagoon is enclosed by tall pine trees and is a natural swimming pool that the whole family will enjoy. Spend the day relaxing in the water and taking in the exquisite sight of Mother Nature at her best – after taking a few snapshots first, of course.