- Snorkelling Pléiades du Nord
- Snorkelling Pléiades du Sud
- Exploring the underwater trail of Île aux Canards
We snorkel the underwater trail at Île aux Canards, Nouméa New Caledonia.
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About Nouméa and Île aux Canards
Nouméa is the capital of New Calendonia, situated on a peninsula in the south of the New Caledonia main island. It is located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, about 1200km east of Australia. Colonised by the French (formally) in 1853, New Caledonia became a penal colony in 1864 until 1897 when transportation ended – all up, a total of about 22,000 prisoners. The indigenous people are the Kanak people. Languages spoken are French and a smaller proportion of the population speak one of the Kanak languages.
Ile aux Canards is an islet that sits within a ten minute taxi boat ride from Anse Vata, a main tourist spot in Nouméa. It only takes about 30 minutes to walk around the island, it’s very tourist oriented with beach attendants, deckchairs, loungers, restaurant etc. It is classified as a marine reserve and its ‘underwater trail’ or ‘marine trail’ is a UNESCO world heritage site. The trail is marked underwater and you just follow it to find out about different flora and fauna.
Image: Adobe Stock Images (we didn’t have a camera at the time, so this at least gives you a visual).
Getting there
Getting there is easy. It’s a a ten minute water taxi ride from Anse Vata, a main beach in Nouméa (virtually opposite the Hilton hotel).
At the time, a ticket costs about 1200 CPF (CPF franc, it stands for Change Franc Pacifique) or approximately $15 AUD – yes, exxy.
Snorkelling the underwater trail of Île aux Canards
The conditions
We arrived mid-morning and it was mildly windy and the viz wasn’t so good (it was cloudy). We could only see about 5-6 metres ahead but we were able to read the underwater signs and enjoy the scenery. The only other thing that hampered were the multitude of tourists swimming over the top of us and showed little regard for the reef underneath them (standing on it, in other words).
Fish and coral
Fringed by a vibrant coral reef , you can only swim and snorkel on the islet’s western side. The swimming zone includes the underwater trail.
There is no sand on the beach, just thick broken corals (your shoes will be handy here) and you’ll have to swim a few meters over damaged coral to get to the trail. It’s marked by five white buoys you follow to learn about the reef and sea life. The deeper you go, the healthier the reef.
We saw spinefoot, sweetlips, angelfish and wrasse and the obligatory clownfish. Saw some lovely big groupers who were happy to check us out as much as we liked looking at them.
We didn’t have an underwater camera when we visited so can’t show you any images from us but here’s a youtube clip that would give you an idea of what it looks like. The clip by Johan Bas was made in 2016 but it hasn’t changed much since then. You get an idea of the cloudiness of the water and we’ve since seen plenty of other underwater pics where other people have had similar experiences.
Would we return to Île aux Canards?
This snorkel wasn’t overly enjoyable for us. We appreciate it’s a UNESCO world heritage site, but we query about how well it’s being looked after.
The island is first and foremost a tourist place for people who want to lounge in the sun and get their skin brown. Snorkelling here seems to be secondary, a bonus after you’ve had a big lunch and a bottle of wine. Sorry to be harsh but we wouldn’t return.
Our recommendation
Our recommendation is based on a comparison with other sites we’ve visited, the abundance of corals and fish life as well as environmental factors such as damage to corals by tourists.
To snorkel Île aux Canards, we’d give tit 1 out of 5! (sorry New Caledonia)
