Length of Trip : 7 days

Cost :
Since the local currency (the French Pacific franc, or CFP) is pegged to the euro, New Caledonia a pricey compared to say, Thailand, but cheaper than say, Australia.

Best time to go : August to October. Cyclone season in November to March.

Wheelchair friendly : Yes

Family friendly : Yes

Where to eat :
If you can catch it, you can eat it. Turtle meat, fruit bats, giant lobsters, parrotfish, deer meat, octopus, prawn sashimi - it's all on the menu and touched up with unmistakable French panache. The indigenous population can treat you to a bougna - starch (sweet potato, manioc, tarot) with meat and coconut milk, cooked in an earth over for a couple hours. Local tour operators can arrange this. Pastries on the island are straight out of the Paris (croissant heaven), and in the stores you can get gourmet mustard and French wine probably cheaper than anywhere else in the southern hemisphere. Hundreds of cheeses to try, and lets not forget fois de gras.

Official Site :
Visit New Caledonia

Where to Stay :
Hotel Le Lagon, Noumea.
Le Meridien Noumea

Getting There :
There are regular flights into New Caledonia from Paris, Sydney, Auckland, Tokyo, and various Pacific nations. Visitors from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand do not require visas for stays under 90 days. Technically you're in France, so EU passport holders are welcome. Car hire is recommended. To get to the Iles des Pins, you can either take a fast ferry, short flight, or boat tour with a local tour operator.

Note from Robin :
On the Iles des Pins, a short ferry from the capital of Noumea, you will find the freak phenomenon locals call a “natural aquarium”. Thousands of tropical fish wash over a protective reef with the waves into a shallow rock pool. Grab some bread, stand waist high with a dive mask, and hand feed them. Pure goose bumps, without a diving certificate.