Lifou Snorkeling
par Richard Chesher
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Photo panoramique par
Richard Chesher
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Lifou SnorkelingThe World > Les Iles de l'Océan Pacifique > Mélanesie > Nouvelle Calédonie > Îles Loyauté > Lifou |
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There are many interesting places to go snorkeling on Lifou but Baie de Jenik is certainly one of the better places. The area is set up for picnics and there is a platform with stairs leading down into the bay. The area is almost always calm, the water clear, and the coral reefs so close you don't even need flippers to swim to them.
For full information on snorkelling and diving in Lifou New Caledonia visit Loyalty Islands Watersports.
Sur le coin nord-ouest de l’ile de Lifou, juste après Xepenehe, la statue de “Notre Dame de Lourdes” ...
The cliffs of Jokin drop straight down into a clear blue sea studded with coral reefs. This image was...
Peng beach is almost always deserted - except on weekends. The ruins of a village are just behind the...
The jungle road leading to this remote and secluded beach was filled with butterflies. Coming from th...
Drueulu is one of the only good trade wind anchorages on the island of Lifou. It is well sheltered fr...
Lifou is the largest of the four Loyalty Islands. It is much larger than the island of Tahiti with al...
Lifou Island is the largest of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean.
The Loyalty Islands comprise the Province Iles Loyaute of New Caledonia. There are 4 major islands, Ouvea in the north, Lifou in the middle and Mare in the south. 40,000 people live on these islands, with over half on the largest island of Lifou.
All three islands began as atolls - a circular ring of islands with a central lagoon. About a million years ago the sea floor bulged under these atolls upwards. Ouvea, on the northern slope of the bulge, still retains the characteristics of an atoll, a circular group of islands with a central lagoon, but it is tilted, with the southeastern side raised up into two long islands and the lagoon getting progressively deeper to the northwest.
The coral reefs and islets of Lifou were lifted about 80 meters out of the sea with the central lagoon now a forested plateau. Mare was also lifted right out of the water and also has a central forested plateau. The ancient, uplifted coral has left a multitude of caves, cliffs and sink-holes that are fun to explore. The coastal areas have new reefs around them and there are a number of very pretty beaches.
The people of the Loyalty Islands speak French and their own tribal languages, a mixture of Melanesian and Polynesian. Many also speak some English. The physical infrastructure of roads, schools and medical facilities are modern and high quality. The people of the Loyalty Islands honour their cultural heritage and this is especially evident in the construction of their homes, their respect of custom, celebrations and family life.
Each island has at least one international standard hotel and the villages offer "tribal stays" with guests staying in traditional styled thatched huts or small guest houses. The islands are only about a 40 minute flight from Noumea and Air Caledonie, the domestic airline, flies to each island several times a day. There is also a high speed catamaran from Noumea, the Betico II, with air conditioned guest rooms for the trip (about 3 hours to Mare, 4 hours to Lifou and 5 hours to Ouvea). Each island has it's own special personality and things to see and do. For full details on the tourism features of the Loyalty Islands visit the official web site www.iles-loyaute.com
