Noumea. Flying Qantas and Aircalin in J.

[Stewey]

There was a great bistro bar called Bodega del Mar right on the water not far from Le Roof which if it’s still open is a wonderful place for drinks and to listen to live music and not a tourist destination as mainly seemed to be locals and really friendly

These photos are when it opened for the day in the late afternoon, we were the only ones there and within 30 mins the place was packed with locals and then live local musicians and dancing into the wee hours and a few cold drinks to assist with the vibe

 

[mikespike]

There was a great bistro bar called Bodega del Mar right on the water not far from Le Roof which if it’s still open is a wonderful place for drinks and to listen to live music and not a tourist destination as mainly seemed to be locals and really friendly

It is still there. I was there weekend before last, it was quite busy actually and a lot of fun.

 

[Stewey]

It is still there. I was there weekend before last, it was quite busy actually and a lot of fun.

its a great place

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Great timing reading your TR. We are heading to New Caledonia during the NZ school holidays. Splitting our time between the Hilton in Noumea and Le Meridien on the Ile Des Pins.

It will be our first time in NC.

I’ve booked Arc en Ciel for the transfer to the Hilton.

 

[gibboflyer]

@Austman we just arrived home from a wonderful week in Noumea and I just wanted to thankyou for your brilliant trip report which helped us enormously to prepare! With two busy boys (age 3 and 7) it was the perfect holiday! We flew Qantas J and I could not fault the service. The First class lounge in Sydney was a delight and so too was the Business lounge in Brisbane. The only advice I could add for those who may be interested was that I booked weeks in advance for a facial at Chateau Royal and use of their Aquatonic spa which was absolutely beautiful and very reasonably priced. The boys also loved the morning market, aquarium and glow in the dark golf! Also, my husband booked a car through Europcar and had no difficulty. We were already discussing our next trip back to Noumea as we landed in 7 degrees Melbourne airport!

 

[Stewey]

@Austman we just arrived home from a wonderful week in Noumea and I just wanted to thankyou for your brilliant trip report which helped us enormously to prepare! With two busy boys (age 3 and 7) it was the perfect holiday! We flew Qantas J and I could not fault the service. The First class lounge in Sydney was a delight and so too was the Business lounge in Brisbane. The only advice I could add for those who may be interested was that I booked weeks in advance for a facial at Chateau Royal and use of their Aquatonic spa which was absolutely beautiful and very reasonably priced. The boys also loved the morning market, aquarium and glow in the dark golf! Also, my husband booked a car through Europcar and had no difficulty. We were already discussing our next trip back to Noumea as we landed in 7 degrees Melbourne airport!

Chateau Royal is a great place to stay, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and definitely will be back.
Was the swim up bar open when you stayed there?

 

[dairyfloss]

Hi @Austman, @gibboflyer and other recent travellers to Noumea! We are now 3.5 weeks from our first visit to Noumea, and I'm booking transfers from the airport and back. I was wondering what the departure experience is like at NOU airport, and what time we'd need to get there for a stress-free check-in and getting airside? We're coming from the Le Meridien Noumea and will be on the 11:35AM QF flight home to SYD, in J. Is getting there 90 mins beforehand too early / too late / just right? It'll be a weekend, so hoping not much traffic about in the morning.

Thanks,
Matt.

 

[Austman]

We're coming from the Le Meridien Noumea and will be on the 11:35AM QF flight home to SYD, in J. Is getting there 90 mins beforehand too early / too late / just right? It'll be a weekend, so hoping not much traffic about in the morning.

I covered this a bit in the TR.

The international airport is about an hour's drive away from Noumea. A bit quicker by car. A bit slower by shuttle transfer. I don't think I ever saw "heavy" traffic in Noumea.

It's never going to be a very busy airport - it only has two air-bridges. At worst there could be a Aircalin A330 departing at about the same time. And J-class gets a "priority" entrance at security (if it's even needed).

So I'd say arriving 90 mins before your flight is enough. I allowed about 2 hours and it was probably a bit too much. The lounge is nice and has drinks and snacks but no real main food items.

 

[dairyfloss]

I covered this a bit in the TR.

The international airport is about an hour's drive away from Noumea. A bit quicker by car. A bit slower by shuttle transfer. I don't think I ever saw "heavy" traffic in Noumea.

It's never going to be a very busy airport - it only has two air-bridges. At worst there could be a Aircalin A330 departing at about the same time. And J-class gets a "priority" entrance at security (if it's even needed).

So I'd say 90 mins is enough. The lounge is nice and has drinks and snacks but no real main food items.

Cool - thanks, @Austman! I must have missed that part, sorry! We'll be in a private transfer so likely no more than an hour it seems. Will plan to leave at 9AM for a 10AM arrival at NOU. The family is starting to get excited about the first o/s trip since Fiji, pre C19

Cheers
Matt.

 

[gibboflyer]

Hi @Austman, @gibboflyer and other recent travellers to Noumea! We are now 3.5 weeks from our first visit to Noumea, and I'm booking transfers from the airport and back. I was wondering what the departure experience is like at NOU airport, and what time we'd need to get there for a stress-free check-in and getting airside? We're coming from the Le Meridien Noumea and will be on the 11:35AM QF flight home to SYD, in J. Is getting there 90 mins beforehand too early / too late / just right? It'll be a weekend, so hoping not much traffic about in the morning.

Thanks,
Matt.

I agree with @Austman, we allowed 2 hours at the airport (and security didn't open until 2 hours prior). Had a lovely time at the lounge. We hired a car so just drove to the airport which was straightforward. Have a great trip!

 

[gibboflyer]

Chateau Royal is a great place to stay, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and definitely will be back.
Was the swim up bar open when you stayed there?

@Stewey we stayed at the Hilton which suited us fine (3 bedrooms and a kitchen) but would definitely look at staying at Chateau Royal next time. Swim up bar was not open at the time.

 

[Stewey]

@Stewey we stayed at the Hilton which suited us fine (3 bedrooms and a kitchen) but would definitely look at staying at Chateau Royal next time. Swim up bar was not open at the time.

I don't think the swim up bar has been open for a very long time and yes we really enjoyed our stay at the Chateau Royal and we had a top floor corner suite with great views over Anse Vata beach and the lagoon

I'll share some photos if I can find them

 

[Brissy1]

Haven't used cash in au for years, so hoping I can completely avoid that also in Noumea.

 

[SYD]

Haven't used cash in au for years, so hoping I can completely avoid that also in Noumea.

Ditto!

Meanwhile, does anyone know of an eSIM option that’ll work in NOU? Turns out that NC is not included in Optus Zone1/2 so my included roaming voice, txt and data ain’t going to work (and I recently discovered that Optus WiFi calling doesn’t work OS ).

So far TruPhone and Flexiroam haven’t heard of New Caledonia…

 

[Longtoo]

Haven't used cash in au for years, so hoping I can completely avoid that also in Noumea.

Credit card is good almost everywhere in Noumea. I only needed to use cash to pay for taxi and at the Noumea Market. Some vendors at the Market have EFTPOS machines.

 

[Longtoo]

I was ok with Vodafone roaming (pay as you go) and free internet in NOU. It is possible to buy a tourist sim card to get internet Accueil | Tourism Card - Mobilis NC from OPT shops in Noumea.

 

[SYD]

I was ok with Vodafone roaming (pay as you go) and free internet in NOU. It is possible to buy a tourist sim card to get internet Accueil | Tourism Card - Mobilis NC from OPT shops in Noumea.

Yeah, Googled something about the Tourist SIM but so far it only seems to be physical SIM. We‘ll probably be ok with free wifi and if push comes to shove, PAYG calls / txt.

 

[gibboflyer]

Ditto!

Meanwhile, does anyone know of an eSIM option that’ll work in NOU? Turns out that NC is not included in Optus Zone1/2 so my included roaming voice, txt and data ain’t going to work (and I recently discovered that Optus WiFi calling doesn’t work OS ).

So far TruPhone and Flexiroam haven’t heard of New Caledonia…

We used cash for the markets, macarons and for parking meters. It was helpful to have a little.
In terms of phones- we are with Optus and just used the hotel wifi or noumea city wifi but I did see people with ‘nc pocket wifi’ which seemed to be a portable box that you can order online and return to the airport. That might be an option for you.

 

[toowongman]

Thank you for your report, it was very interesting and useful as we're going next week. I shall have to document points of interest and useful tips as well.

 

[SYD]

Anyone know what time SB checkin in SYD opens?

I’ve searched but can’t find anything. Looks like OLCI opens 30 hrs prior (a bit weird) but we’ll still need to drop bags off before maximising QF F lounge time. Hopefully J BPs will provide useful security Q jumper status compared to my last departure ex-T1 in whY…