New Caledonia A blend of Melanesian and French culture, New Caledonia features idyllic islands, mouth-watering cuisine, a cosmopolitan city and waters teeming with coral, fish and giant clams.

New Caledonia is a laidback place where time almost stands still. Its warm and friendly people live a life of simplicity with strong culture and beliefs. If you want to retreat, get back to basics and escape the modern world, New Caledonia is the perfect place to visit.

Noumea, also known as the French Riviera of the Pacific, is the most European city in the South Pacific, with some lovely French architecture and a strong presence of French immigrants. Sitting on a large peninsula, it’s surrounded by picturesque bays and offers fine dining, chic boutiques, lively market places and museums worthy of a visit. Find one of the city’s many beaches to relax on, take a short taxi boat over to Duck Island for some snorkelling, enjoy a leisurely kayak down the Dumbea River or see marine-life without getting wet at the Aquarium des Lagons.

New Caledonia’s most stunning beaches are, without a doubt, on its outer islands. Enjoy a leisurely few days on the Isle of Pines – a tiny jewel in the crown of the South Pacific. An indigenous land, there is very little here except for a few low rise hotels, peace, quiet and the opportunity to commune with nature in solitude. The picturesque Oro Bay can get crowded when the cruise ships arrive but the rest of the time, it remains a pristine beach that offers picture perfect scenery and a spectacular "natural aquarium" that is worth leaving your spot on the talcum soft sand for. Visit the church and village in Vao before sighting one of the most photographed spots on the island – the St Maurice Bay Monument.

Visit the islands of Mare or Lifou for long, deserted beaches; sheer cliffs topped with majestic colonial pine trees; fish and fauna found nowhere else in the world; caves, grottos and underground pools and a magical underwater world waiting to be discovered.