Noumea
Travel Guide > Oceania > New Caledonia > Noumea
Introduction
Noumea is the capital and largest city in New Caledonia and has a total population of roughly 100,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the southwest of the country on a peninsula on the main island Grande Terre. It forms the administrative, cultural, economical and industrial centre of the country and most people arriving by plane will eventually spend a day or so in lively and ethnically mixed Noumea. It has good facilities, with hotels, restaurants and transport to suit all budgets, but it lacks charm in general.
Neighbourhoods
Sights and Activities
Events and Festivals
Weather
Although Noumea has a rather warm and humid climate, it is not as hot as place more north in the Pacific. The warmer period from October to May sees temperatures of around 26 to 28 degrees Celcius on average during the day and still around 20 degrees at night. The first part from September to December is also the driest period of the year, although rainshowers are possible throughout the year, but even the wetter January to June period doesn't mean it rain all day and totals are not as high, with the wettest month March only having around 140 mm of rain. June to August has relatively cool nights, but it rarely gets cold.
Getting There
By Plane
Tontouta International Airport is located some 45 kilometers from Nouméa. The national carrier is Air Calin, which mainly serves destinations throughout the Pacific region (among which Fiji and French Polynesia), Japan and from June 2008 also South Korea.
Other airlines serving Noumea are Air Vanuatu, Qantas and Air New Zealand. All three have connections from several cities in Vanuatu, Australia and New Zealand. Aircalin has flights to Australia (Brisbane and Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland) as well.
By Train
By Car
By Bus
By Boat
Eat
Drink
Work
Learn
This is version 1. Last edited at 18:22 on Apr 21, 08 by Utrecht (+2404). 3 articles link to this page.
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