So your flights are booked, fake tan has been sprayed and you have an overflowing suitcase full of kaftans. Aside from the obvious cocktails-at-sunset-by-the-pool, there is a lot to see and do in New Caledonia that might not seem evident from tourist paraphernalia.
Escapade Island Resort is located on the island of Ilot Maître, 20 minutes by ferry from Noumea. Aside from the luxury accommodation available, there is also a portion of the island that’s open to the public with BBQ areas free of charge. You can walk the perimeter of the island in 35 minutes, and it was on this walk that I discovered this somewhat deserted stretch of beach.
While my colleagues enjoyed all manner of water sports on one side of the island, Jaharn from Mister Weekender, Kerry from Eat Drink and be Kerry and I hung out in the shallow waters and white sandy shore of the tip of the island, which pretty much summed up my experience of New Caledonia.
You can hike in the mountains, visit the Tjibaou cultural center and enjoy water sports or you can simply find a stretch of pristine sand and soak in the world’s largest costal lagoon.
My experience was that the wilderness and UNESCO protected coral reefs are really where you want to spend your time in New Caledonia. It’s not a shopping destination, or somewhere you go for $2 beers and night markets full of tourist tat.
The nightlife is fabulous and I found it cost me roughly the same as a night out in Melbourne, only difference was that I was partying in a large, open-air bungalow over a clear water lagoon. SRSLY. A glass of white wine cost me $8AUS, in the hotels everything is more expensive, but I think that’s standard the world over.
So by day I would snorkel and swim with turtles, by night I’d sip chilled wine at a bar with a French DJ spinning 90s hip-hop.
Pretty perfect really.
7 comments
love your blog 🙂
Sounds beautiful! Hope to go there one day! The more i hear about it the more i want to have my next getaway there 🙂
Glad you enjoyed your stay though Lady Melbourne. There definitely are some lovely places in New Caledonia (mostly outside of Noumea), and a fascinating culture. I’m hoping to get back some day.
It should be Jacqui, it’s a really special place!
Meredith! So lovely to hear from you, I didn’t actually stay at the Escapade, I just did a day trip to the island. The only insight I could get by talking to some guests was that it was extremely expensive to eat on the island. Most of the guests were Japanese or Western so I would say they are catering to wealthy tourists.
I didn’t see any Islander people staying as guests, only working there so it became apparent pretty quickly that there was a two tier economy that operates in New Caledonia. One for rich tourists, one for locals. I haven’t written about it yet, but I did go to a local market and to show grounds where I got to see a local side of life, and the bar I was referring to in the post was far more low key and full of locals.
But having done my fair share of travel, most ‘exclusive’ resorts cater for a very specific clientel, and sadly I’m not really that surprised that you had that experience. Awful, right? You can’t go all the way to a place like New Caledonia, pay $100 for dinner every night and $15 for a drink and expect to experience what life is really like for people that live there. I expect that those kinds of tourists don’t really want to however…
I hope the people at Ilot Maitre have changed their attitude towards serving black people. When I was there with my now husband and his friends (all of whom were either African or Islander), we were asked to leave.
Looks absolutely DIVINE Lady Melbourne! Looks like a definite on my Holiday list =)