Vanuatu and New Caledonia

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timetraveler

Contributor
Messages
234
Reaction score
16
Location
Melbourne Beach, FL
# of dives
500 - 999
My buddy and I will be taking a cruise in November that has ports in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The ship offers dive excursions in two ports: Port Vila, Vanuatu and Luganville, Vanuatu. We will also have port calls in Mare, New Caledonia; Mystery Island, Vanuatu; Champagne Bay, Vanuatu; and Lifou, New Caledonia. Has anyone dived these islands? Can you tell me whether you would recommend diving there or what conditions I might expect to find?
 
Wrecks!

In Luganville you have the SS Coolidge and Million Dollar Point (think a mini truuk where everything from bulldozers to barbers chairs were scuttled due to an argument over price when US troops withdrew). Both are shore dives. I've heard from a few people they were less than happy with the operator from the cruise ship and I do have to add there are some very dodgy operators up there.

These guys are the people to dive the Coolidge with if you want full safe penetration or tech (they have He/Doubles/Sidemount) Absolute Adventures - Home

That's about the limit of diving in Luganville - while champagne bay is pretty there's nothing there to dive. There are some reef dives offered by AbsoluteAdventures close by - they are not the cheapest in the town but for a few $$ more I'd personally make a choice to dive with them. The Coolidge isn't a wreck without a history dive wise so IMO it's worth the few extra $. If you can find out which operator the cruise ship is using feel free to PM me and I may be able to give you the rundown. Also how long you will be there for (cruise ships usually just do an overnight at Luganville) will dictate if you can get down to the propellers (55m) or just do a swim around the wreck.

The other place you will get diving is Vila - Star of Russia is an interesting wreck as is the flying boat. There's the usual "coral gardens" and a few other reef spots and a couple of other wrecks I did that were ok. Not a lot of fish life but acceptable, ditto you will find a few nudibranch and critters around. Big Blue dive were very good and I would recommend them.

Mystery Island is leased by cruise ship lines so AFAIK no diving there - New Caledonia has some very good diving being the worlds biggest lagoon but I have no info on who to dive with and where as I was crewing on a private boat at the time.

One thing I would suggest is if the cruise ship offers and additional excursion at Tanna Island I would definitely do that to stand on the lip of Mt Yasur while it erupts but do not dive there as the Island has a hugely expensive resort with a sea container labelled as a dive shop but...I've dived with them and would not recommend for safety reasons. I hope this helps feel free to PM me if you want further info.
 

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