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From April to September, the water is 22 or 23°C with 30 to 40 meters of visibility, and the weather stays stable until November. From December to March, the water rises to 27°C in cyclone season, but the mantas are there from January to April. Humpback whales pass from mid-July to mid-September.
In Nouméa, Iatok Diving Paradise sells its two morning dives for XPF 10,500, or €88, on weekdays, and €96 on weekends. Blue Caledonia Diving charges €117 for a guided dive and €109 for a try dive. The reserves charge no entry fee.
Aircalin flies from Paris to Nouméa via Bangkok, without a change of plane, three times a week, in 24 to 25 hours. La Tontouta airport is 52 kilometers from Nouméa. A passport is recommended, with no visa for EU citizens, and curfews remain possible since the riots of May 2024.
New Caledonia is surrounded by one of the three largest reef systems in the world, and six of its marine areas, 15,743 km² in total, have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2008. The Nouméa area is not one of them. The lagoon is home to the world's third-largest dugong population. Around Nouméa, you dive the passes of the barrier reef. Boulari, at the foot of the Amédée lighthouse, has manta rays on a plateau at 13 meters and gray reef sharks. At Dumbéa, groupers gather by the hundreds to spawn in October and November. The Dieppoise wreck rests at 26 meters near Amédée islet. In the Grand Sud, the Prony Needle rises from 38 meters to 2 meters below the surface. Farther north, Bourail offers the false pass of Île Verte and its whitetip reef sharks, Koumac its walls with gray reef sharks, and Hienghène the Cathedral, a wall from 7 to 55 meters.
The cool season, from April to September, brings water at 22 or 23°C and visibility of 30 to 40 meters, and from April to November the weather is more stable. From December to March, the water rises to 27°C, but it is the hot cyclone season, with stronger currents and trips canceled in bad weather. It is also the best time for mantas, from January to April. Humpback whales visit Prony Bay and the southern lagoon from mid-July to mid-September.
In Nouméa, Iatok Diving Paradise sells its two morning dives for XPF 10,500 (€88) on weekdays and XPF 11,500 (€96) on weekends, plus XPF 1,500 (€13) for guiding a Level 1 diver. Blue Caledonia Diving charges XPF 14,000 (€117) for a guided dive, XPF 12,000 (€101) for unguided divers and XPF 13,000 (€109) for a try dive. There is no entry fee in the reserves. The Pacific franc has a fixed peg: €1 equals XPF 119.33.
Aircalin flies from Paris to Nouméa via Bangkok without a change of plane, three times a week, in 24 to 25 hours. La Tontouta airport is 52 kilometers from Nouméa. A passport is recommended, and European Union citizens need no visa. Since the riots of May 2024, the political situation has remained tense and curfews can be imposed at short notice: check before you leave.
Dive centers accept FFESSM or CMAS Level 1 and PADI or SSI Open Water for guided dives. The South Province has open-access nature reserves where fishing, hunting and collecting are banned, such as Grand Récif Aboré and Boulari Pass, and strict reserves closed to the public. The hyperbaric chamber is at the Nouméa hospital. Allow 12 hours before flying after short no-stop dives, and 24 hours after deep or repeated dives.
Hotels, apartments and rooms around Nouméa, Marina Port du Sud, the starting point for dives at Boulari Pass, with current prices.
