Noumea

Join the Hipporoller Challenge

Help the Travel Guide reach 20,000,000 characters and we'll donate 63 hipporollers worth over $6000. Read more.

On Travellerspoint

• 1 Noumea Apartments

Contributors

• Utrecht (100%)
  from http://utrecht.travellerspoint.com

Help contribute to this article to share the ad revenue.

Introduction

Church at the top of the Hill in Noumea

© All Rights Reserved naomidavid

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

International
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.
Domestic
Air Calédonie provides domestic services between Nouméa and Touho, Koné, Koumac and Belep, all on the main island, Grande Terre. Other destinations include outer islands like Ile des Pins and the Loyalty Islands: Maré, Ouvéa, Lifou and Tiga. Air Alize, Air Loyaute and Helicocean and Helitourisme have light aircraft and helicopter services, some of them chartered.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

There is an inter-island, high-speed catamaran, ‘Betico’, which runs regularly to Ile des Pins and the Loyalty Islands from Nouméa.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post