NEW CALEDONIA - West Coast - An Underwater Paradise
October 2106
Oh, I suppose it could take for ever to explore the West Coast of New Caledonia and we certainly could have spent many more weeks in that area. The snorkeling is superb, especially in the reserves that have been set up along the outer reef. We purposely skipped all land stops, even Koumac, to concentrate on observing the reef.
Most of the west coast can be navigated inside the lagoon, except for about 90 miles between Baie de Chasseloup and Baie de St Vincent. But the fishing outside is splendind, as we hooked up a 200-lb black marlin and lost another marlin, that one enormous, in the 400-lb range! So, I’ll take you along our route.
1st Stop: Ilot Yande - 20*03.639S - 163*47.354E - This is one more day anchorage given to us by “Spirare” and we gave it a shot. I guess Serge is a more daring sailor than we are! JP scanned the bottom to drop anchor and all we could see was coral heads under the hull.
The swell rolling in through the pass would have pushed DOMINO towards the reef and we felt uncomfortable dropping anchor at that point. Off went.
2nd Stop: Neba - 20*09.384S - 163*54.890E - Much better!! Sandy bottom, protected from the roll, and nobody in sight. We found the best snorkeling at the SW end of the island. For hours, I let myself get lost in soft coral, gardens of anemones, and a kaleidoscope of tropical fish. We spent 2 days, caught spiny lobsters (the locals allowed us 2 per day) and just filled our eyes and hearts with colors.
3nd Stop: Baie du Croissant - 20*16.779S - 164*01.882E - You’re gonna ask me, how many dives does it take before you get sick of it? Every dive is different. Every snorkeling experience is special in its own way. Here, the reef extension at the south end of the bay sports an amazing anemone and soft coral forest in pastel colors of mauve, pistachio, pale yellow, soft grey… colors that we’d not seen before.
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| A weary octopus is eyeing me! |
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| Juvenile yellow boxfish |
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| Lobster time! |
Snorkel around and you might find yourself in a hot pool springing from the sandy bottom, and suddenly black and rust algae are all around. You never know what you will find: spiny lobsters love to hide under coral flowers… go find one!
DO YOU KNOW YOUR BUTTERFLYFISH? ID These!
4th Stop: Ile Tanle - 20*18.785S - 164*04.824E - The Poum Peninsula offers good protection from weather… and weather was upon us, so we tucked into Tanle Bay to weather a stormy night. Don’t expect much in terms of snorkeling: we hoped to find good stuff at Little Tanle, a sand island covered with low brush, but we found it entirely surrounded with a tangle of purple staghorn coral: pretty but no fun to snorkel! The entire bay is somewhat marred by the scars of mining, the hills dry and dusty, but it was a good stop in a blow.
5th Stop: Chasseloup - 20*57.773S - 164*39.238E - We exited Tanle in the morning and, taking advantage of a no-wind situation, exited the lagoon and went fishing… yes! Hooked up 2 black marlins, caught a wahoo, and had a load of fun!
The anchorage at Chasseloup is enormous, good holding, and again an easy stop. The shore offered no interest to us, another mining harbor, but easy in and out. Actually, we were in a rush to get to St. Vincent Bay as bad weather was on the horizon.
6th Stop - St. Vincent Bay - Ile de Puen - 21*57.827S - 165*57.431E - St Vincent Bay is a large complex of islands, peninsulas, bays and nooks where one can spend weeks exploring, fishing, hunting, crabbing, clamming, or just do nothing at all!
Just drop anchor in front of the old campground and horse ranch. This is another good anchorage in a blow. We tried to snorkel the Canal de Puen: the worst ever!! Zero visibility, totally dead coral heads, no fish. Better to snorkel the west end: much to see there!
NATURAL RESERVE - NO FISHING/HUNTING -
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| Juvenile Clown Coris |
By far one of our favorite spots to snorkel, especially the north-east end of the island. Home to massive spiny lobsters, this is a good anchorage by calm weather.
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| "Big Ben" - The biggest ever |
Lots to see… including the banded black and white snake!
On our second visit, we took the dinghy out and snorkeled the outer reef (22*00.720S - 165*55.811E) - To find the exit through the reef, find the 2 sticks/flags on the western end of the island!
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| How well do you know your coral? |
8th Stop: Baie des Moustiques - HURRICANE HOLE - 21*59.948S - 166*03.052E -
Another storm was upon us and we hid in that hole for 4 days… no mosquito, though! We found an excellent harvest of cockles and rock mussels along the sandy beaches of the bay. We tried to snorkel the wester end of the island, but the visibility was nil after 4 days of heavy winds and swell. YES< excellent hurricane hole!
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| Reef is everywhere |
9th Stop: Ile Ndukue - 22*.06.062S - 166.07.039E - OUR FAVORITE!!!
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| Ndukue... what is there not to like? |
Our absolute favorite. You can snorkel every day and never see the same thing… plenty of shells: cowries, tritons, Murex, fusiform conch, and then some!
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| Pipefish |
The outer reef of Ile Mathieu hosts all kinds of coral, while its inner reef is all about sand and seaweeds.
The shore at the anchorage is lined with mangroves, and locals line up to find mangrove crabs, those large black crabs that have such a sweet flesh (not in season while we were there…)
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| Nudibranch |
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| So many Murex |
T
hat same shore is home to all kinds of mud creatures, including the elusive CROCODILE fish!
The reef between Ndukue and Ile Moro is an unbroken coral garden with incursions of anemones and soft corals.
How well do you know your coral?
Across the channel, the large reef is yet another experience in soft corals in psychedelic colors. and more Fern Starfish
And again, many cruisers drift-dive the pass (but not for us). And so many colorful giant clams!
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| Oriental Sweetlips |
11th Stop: Ile Ronhua - 22*03.963S - 166*01.841E - Yet another lovely snorkeling spot by fair weather - Two great snorkels: along the C-shaped reef, and (for a different experience with snakes) the shallow reef to the east.
So much …. so much… so lovely…
Even eels and snakes and lionfish look fine!
And now, it’s time to think of our next destination: the Great South… but will we have time?
Until next time…
dominomarie