Covering 1.3 million square kilometers, New Caledonia's Natural Park of the Coral Sea protects the world's second longest double-barrier reef and the world's largest marine lagoon.
Protected waters of New Caledonia —
Covering 1.3 million square kilometers, New Caledonia's Natural Park of the Coral Sea protects the world's second longest double-barrier reef and the world's largest marine lagoon.
Courtesy Martial Dosdane
On the east coast of the main island of Grande Terre, La Roche Percee Beach is the only known place in New Caledonia where one can surf off the shore. But the real action lies three kilometers offshore, where the swell hits the outer reef.
Reef swells —
On the east coast of the main island of Grande Terre, La Roche Percee Beach is the only known place in New Caledonia where one can surf off the shore. But the real action lies three kilometers offshore, where the swell hits the outer reef.
Courtesy Gill Chabaud
Each June, monohulls and catamarans sail out of Noumea's Port Moselle to compete for glory in the Great Lagoon Regatta.
Great Lagoon Regatta —
Each June, monohulls and catamarans sail out of Noumea's Port Moselle to compete for glory in the Great Lagoon Regatta.
ian lloyd neubauer/CNN
Nokanhui islet, off the Isle of Pines, is located in New Caledonia's South Province.
Clear blue waters —
Nokanhui islet, off the Isle of Pines, is located in New Caledonia's South Province.
Martial Dosdane/NCTPS
"Because it lies in a temperate zone, the marine biodiversity of New Caledonia's reef is very peculiar," says Richard Farmer, director of the Aquarium Des Lagons in the capital Noumea. The level of endemism (number of species found nowhere else) is off the charts.
World's second longest reef —
"Because it lies in a temperate zone, the marine biodiversity of New Caledonia's reef is very peculiar," says Richard Farmer, director of the Aquarium Des Lagons in the capital Noumea. The level of endemism (number of species found nowhere else) is off the charts.
MARC LE CHELARD/AFP/Getty Images
Mont Dore (pictured) is located in the suburbs of capital Noumea in the South Province of New Caledonia.
Mont Dore —
Mont Dore (pictured) is located in the suburbs of capital Noumea in the South Province of New Caledonia.
Martial Dosdane/NCTPS