Ireland’s Capital of Fun

……or, a day at the beach.

Looking at pictures of an empty beach and dejected looking funfair rides, my Reader might be forgiven for wondering why I have chosen the title I have for this review. I would have expected a similar reaction had I entitled this review ‘Ireland’s Premiere Seaside Resort’. Both terms are taken from the town’s tourist literature.

A Postcard From The South Pacific

This is the stuff that picture postcards from the South Pacific are made off.

Kuto is a crescent shaped, white powder sand, beach over a kilometre in length. It is lapped by the warm, transparent and turquoise waters of the South Pacific and flanked by swaying palms, and many of the island’s endemic columnar pines, providing ample shade between swims, sun bathing or strolls along the beach. If you are into beaches, what more could you possibly need?

Kanumera Bay – Stunning

Having completed a 2 hour island tour there was still more than sufficient time for a walk along a significant part of Kanumera Bay which, if forced to pick a favourite between it and Kuto Beach, I would rate it higher – because, at least when I visited, it was less busy and there was more shade, from a combination of palms and the Auracaria columnaris pines from which the island takes its name, for those wishing to linger. Additionally, I found the Bay to be a lot more photogenic and I trust I have managed to capture some of its beauty in the images attached.

A Quiet Alternative To Kuto Bay

Maurice Bay

While I rate Maurice Bay as a must visit for its statue of Christ (dedicated to St Maurice) which is surrounded by a most stunning palisade of carved totem poles, the beach here is one of many beautiful beaches on the Ile des Pins and worthy a look in its own right.

More Than Sand, Sun And Sea

Kuto Bay

The Ile des Pins, Nourea, is rightly famous for its spectacular bays, reefs and beaches and to access two of the best of these, Kuto Beach and Kanumera Bay, the visitor arriving by ferry from Noumea or on a cruise ship, as I did, need do no more than walk a few hundred metres either side of where you come ashore.

Yedjele Beach – Paradise Even On A Dull Day

Maré, one of the four Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia, is one of the least developed places in the country but what it lacks in facilities it more than makes up for in beauty. Also, most importantly perhaps, the beer here is half the price it was at our other cruise stops in New Caledonia!

Maré – New Caledonia’s Hidden Gem

Maré is a small raised coral atoll, one of the four Loyalty group islands and part of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific.

Until the mid 2000s very few people visited Maré. In the mid 2000s cruise ship companies came across the island and it is now a regular stop on South Pacific cruises, particularly those originating in Australia.

Sandy Bay and the Inebriated Chinese Pig

Sandy Bay

Sandy Bay is the name of a relatively large district on the opposite side of the Island to Jamestown, the capital. However, when tourists refer to Sandy Bay they inevitably mean the small bay and beach area in the centre of a long extinct volcanic crater.