Ilot Mato is a wonderful anchorage with protection from all wind directions. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the island has a miniature lagoon within New Caledonia's Great Southern Lagoon. You can enjoy well developed coral reefs with ancient coral heads that are thousands of years old, a reef nursery area where baby tropical fish of every description begin their adventure, sea eagles, white sand beaches, and often nobody in the anchorage but your own yacht. Here is a virtual tour of Ilot Mato to tide you over until you can get here yourself. Be sure to click on the images to see the sphere image, read the caption and click on the full page view for a virtual reality expedition to Ilot Mato. All the details you need to get yourself here in person are on the Rocket Cruising Guide to New Caledonia. Order yours now at cruising-newcaledonia.com
When I took this image of the white tip shark, Triaenodon obesus, it was about one metre from the camera lens. It looks big because it was so close, but was only about 1.4 metres long. Normally these sharks are kind of hard to get close to - at le...
At low tide the reefs and sand flats emerge from the sea offering a whole new world of exploration. Sea shells and sand dollars burrow down into the sand to escape the harsh realities of wind and sun, but after a few hours the warm sand becomes de...
Ilot Mato is the only "high" island in New Caledonia's Great Southern Lagoon and it is a favorite anchorage for yachts because the island has it's own small lagoon. The coral reefs surrounding the lagoon protect the yachts in winds from any direct...
A healthy coral reef - vibrant lush corals everywhere I look. This is one of the most lush and rich coral reefs we have found in New Caledonia and I am totally thrilled by the glittering cloud of bright blue damsel fish rising up from the crystal ...
Every year, in July, the humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae swim from Antarctic waters to New Caledonia. In September they swim south again. Like many visitors to New Caledonia, the whales come here to enjoy the warm springtime-like weather an...
