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[quote The J's]You'll have to let us know what to do, We are on the cruise after yours. Nov.1 sailing  Let us know were to snorkel.   John & Janet


Hi,


We arrive back on the day you sail, so i thought that I'd copy my post to the Cruisecritic forum for ROS 10 Oct.

At this stage a while lot of us are still wondering what we are getting on tis cruise as the reviews have been so varied1


BUT we ARE going to have a great holiday!!!! Hope you do also.


"Note that I do not know about Noumea, but it appears that you'd have to take the island day trip. I've been to Noumea and there isn't really any good spots, just a beach or 2.

- Mystery Island has shallow reef all around it and you can snorkel all around the island and out a fair distance. There's plenty to see, and it is nice, but not spectacular like our Barrrier Reef. There's some really good snorkelling at one point where there's some shallow kelp forests and coral. Also the locals will take you by boat out to a "shipwreck" - but I heard that it is just an old fishing boat and not real great - and it costs!

-Vila has some snorkel spots in the harbour off Iririki island, and also Erakor Lagoon. Hideaway Island is a great spot too, not far from Vila by taxi/car.

-Champagne Bay has a white sand beach like Whitehaven in the Whitsundays. There is a nice protected bay with coral reef not-too-deep, and it is a really nice spot. Also you can venture out of the bay and snorkel around the rock ledges if water is calm. The locals offer transport (at a cost) to the "blue holes" which they say is where Blue Lagoon was filmed! (But I thought that was in Fiji?) Supposed to also be pretty good.

NOTE: Watch your stuff here - the young locals wait til you go in the water and thieve stuff! There will probably be native markets set up here on the day

-Luganville we have not seen, but I do know that if you go to Santo you gotta dive or snorkel over Million Dollar Point (google it). We have booked directly a snorkel and "try scuba dive" with Santo Dive. There's 3 dive shops in Luganville, some do only scuba and/or are tied to the cruise line. You may be able to book direct - and if you want to snorkel, I'd suggest booking ahead coz I don't know if there's all that much else to do in Luganville itself.

- Isle of Pines has really nice snorkelling around "The Rock". This is in a bay a short walk from the bay where

we come in on the tender. (you can also snorkel in that bay I think - it was very windy when we were there). The Rock has some really nice coral and reef and weed beds and heaps of fish and you can swim right around the rock. Also the bay has a nice white sand beach.

There may be other places but we didn't go further - it was good enough there.


The main problem may turn out to be the numbers of people in the water - it can get crowded.


All of these spots are good, easy and enjoyable, and convenient for a day stop, but I wouldn't try to compare them with the Barrier Reef (no, not the tourist pontoons!) or some spots in Fiji. You'd have to travel further and make arrangements to see the best spots, I feel.

Hope this helps.

Kev n Julie

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