New Caledonia can be reached by air and water from Auckland. There are several flights, ships and cruises from Auckland to New Caledonia.
Our travel experts have selected some of the best options to travel from Auckland to New Caledonia. Check it out
Do I need a visa for New Caledonia from New Zealand?
Kiwi’s with New Zealand passport can enter New Caledonia without a visa and can stays up to 90 days.
Flights to New Caledonia
The distance between Auckland and New Caledonia is 1858 km. It takes 3 hours to reach New Caledonia from Auckland by flight. The flights are direct with no stopping in the middle.
The basic flight charges vary from 650 NZD to 3000 NZD. The charges depend on the time of booking and the class of travel selected. The bookings are cheaper if tickets are reserved early.
The economy classes are cheaper than the business classes. Some of the flights that offer economical air fares are Air New Zealand, Aircalin
Direct Flight To New Caledonia
The Connecting flights are the flights that include stopping and are expensive. Only 2 airlines offer direct flight services to Noumea.
They are Air New Zealand and Air Calin.
Air Calin flights to new Caledonia
The fares of the Air Calin services are of 3 ranges namely Economy, Premium Economy and Business hibiscus.
It offers sales fare during holiday time and during the New Caledonia seasonal times. The fares are very low during these times in the range of 499 – 569 NZD. Along with flight booking they also offer hotel and car booking at New Caledonia. Though this helps to plan the trip in an organised way, it is quite expensive. The following are the direct flights connecting Auckland and Noumea
Air Calin flights – Departure: 01:10 PM; Arrival : 15:10 PM The travel time is 3 hours. It is operated on Fridays and Saturdays
Air Calin – Departure: 14:10; Arrival : 16:10. The travel time is 3 hours and is operated on Tuesdays alone
Air Calin – Departure: 14:10 ; Arrival : 15:10. The flight is operated on Fridays and Sundays.
Services of Air Calin
With basic fare, the journey is definitely average. The seats are of average comfort. The plane is smaller as compared to the other luxury planes. There are people with heavy baggage. Only water is offered during the flight. The water is provided in plastic cups when demanded by the passenger. The economy class has no trolley to serve the passenger
Bottom line the service justifies the cost.
The business class on the other end is comparatively better. Seats are comfortable. As the number of seats is reduced, the seating arrangement is spacious. Water bottles are provided. The cabin looks little older. The food served is well done but quality and taste is decent.
The airliners do not provide baby strollers. There are other best factors of the airlines. They do not charge additional cost for extra baggage.
air New Zealand flights to new caledonia
Air New Zealand Deals to New Caledonia
The Usual charges at Air New Zealand round the trip to New Caledonia from Auckland is around 300 NZD.
The Economy classes are around 800 NZD. However during the non – seasonal times, flight travel with Air New Zealand is cheaper.
Between the months of June to August, the charges are very less, around 200 NZD. The flight timings from Auckland to Noumea are as follows
Flight Times and Deals
Air New Zealand flight – Departure : 09:05 AM; Arrival: 11:10 AM. The flight is operated on Monday, Thursday and Saturday
They also help to plan the entire trip. They provide tourist guides that speak good English. The accommodation in best luxury hotels is well planned.
Apart from the routine direct flights it also offers stopping flight. The advantage is that these flights do not start their journey at Auckland. Auckland is the connecting port. Therefore the travel time and the charges are all the same. There are 3 such flights offered.
Christchurch to Noumea flight that stops at Auckland. The total flight of the airline is 6 hours. The travel time between Auckland and Noumea is 3 hours. The basic fare in the flight starts from 250 NZD
There is another flight from Queenstown to Noumea stopping at Auckland. The travel time of the flight is 6 hours and 5 minutes. The flight stops at Auckland and the travel time from Auckland to Noumea is 3 hours with a basic fare of 237 NZD
The flight from Wellington to Noumea stops at Auckland. The total flight duration is 5 hours and 50 minutes. While the duration of flight from Auckland to Noumea is 3 hours. The basic fare is 246 NZD.
Note : All the fairs must be used as guides only. For current fares and deals please check out appropriate airlines.
Air New Zealand Services
The services offered by Air New Zealand is comparatively better than Air Calin. They include food delivery during flight on demand. The hostesses attend with pleasing words and are well trained. Passengers are provided with water bottles. The food served is good. The Aircraft has enough places to walk around.
Qantas Airlines flights to new caledonia
Flights to New Caledonia
The Qantas airlines also offers flight services from Auckland to New Caledonia. However, they have multiple stopping in Australia. Their fares are higher as compared to the Air Calin flights and Air New Zealand flights.
Flights with Stop Overs
There are other connecting flights like Air Vanuaru at 9:45 AM that takes 21 hours stopping at Bauerfield airport. It operates on Sunday and Wednesday
The Qantas Airlines also offers service on Sunday. Their flights are at 4:25 PM and 6: 25 AM. The flights take 17 hours to reach Noumea. They stop at Brisbane in the middle of the flight. The flights that have stoppings are comparatively expensive than the direct flights. It operates on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday
Qantas Airlines – Departure: 4:25 PM; Arrival: 1: 05Pm. The journey time is 21 hours. Though flight time is less, passengers have to wait at the Brisbane Airport for 15 hours to board the connecting flight.
Air Tahiti – Departure: 06:05 PM; Arrival: 04: 20 PM. The flight duration is 23 hours. The flight stops at Sydney airport.
Qantas Airlines – Departure: 06:45 PM; Arrival: 01:05 PM. The flight duration is 19 hours. There are 2 stoppings. One at Melbourne and the other at Brisbane.
Flights from Noumea to Auckland
The return flights from Noumea have to be chosen according to the round trip offered by the airlines. There is no regular flight shunting from Noumea to Auckland.
As the forward services from Auckland to Noumea are seldom booked along with the tour packages, the return flight schedules vary seasonally.
However here are some flights that do not change their schedule with a probability score of 7 on 10. Again this changes according to seasons
The Air Calin flight operates on 8:00 AM, 12:10 and 01: 10 PM. The travel time is 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Air New Zealand flight operates at 12:10 PM, 1:10 Pm. The travel time is 3 hours.
When is the right time to travel?
New Caledonia has a tropical climate. The months from June to September are cold making the water uncomfortable for a sport activity. The months from December to March are extremely hot. There are even cyclones during the season. Very less marine life is spotted in the shore during these seasons
The months of April, May and November, October are the ideal months to visit the Archipelago. There are several cruises offered from Auckland during these seasons
Cruise to New Caledonia from Auckland
There are several cruises that are organised from Auckland to different parts of the world. Most of the Cruises are to the Pacific Islands. However the cruises that include New Caledonia in their itinerary are very few.
There are no exclusive Cruises to New Caledonia from Auckland. If one is eager to visit the place and spend more time exclusively in New Caledonia, there are plenty of cruises available from Brisbane and Sydney.
The Cruises from Auckland combine the Pacific Islands. P&O Cruise is the only cruise offering cruises to the South Pacific Islands from Auckland currently. There are not many Cruises from Auckland to New Caledonia.
Cruise Packages to New Caledonia
The P&O Cruises offer 10 nights Cruise Package from Auckland. The Cruise begins from Auckland, The trip is for 40 days circumventing the Pacific islands in and around New Zealand. The charges of the Cruise are as follows
Interior accommodation – 1,591 USD
Ocean view rooms – 1,741 USD
Rooms with Balcony – 2,641 USD
Suites – 3,391 USD
The Cruise begins at Auckland. It covers Nortfolk Islands, Mystery Islands of Vanuatau and New Caledonia. 2 days are spent at New Caledonia ports. It halts at Noumea Port and Lifou port.
The Cruises do not have regular timings like the flights. The schedules are prepared by the cruise company for 2 – 3 years depending on the availability, and arrival of the ships.
The Cruise has lot of fun activities to enjoy during the journey. It has a casino. The ship offers party celebrations for birthday and anniversaries. It has variety of food menus.
There are open air movie theatres available on the decks. There is a pool inside the ship where one can spend the day facing the sea.
The floor of the ship is always crowded and is very difficult to find seats. Also, it is very difficult to find a private place when one travels during ON – SEASONS
Exclusive New Caledonia Packages
There is no exclusive cruise package available from Auckland. The alternate can be to begin the cruise from Noumea. Take a flight from Auckland to Noumea. Plan the cruise from New Caledonia.
The cruises Royal Caribbean, Carnival cruise offer cruise packages in and around New Caledonia. The Cruise is for 6 nights covering all places of New Caledonia. It includes Isle of Pine, Lifou islands, Mare islands and also places around Noumea.
The charges vary according to the rooms opted. However the basic fare begins from 1245 – 1480 AUD.
Tour Packages to New Caledonia from Auckland
A timeline of 5 to 6 nights is more than sufficient to cover all the places of New Caledonia. The Package charges include flight charges, accommodation and a travel guide. Their itinerary usually includes the major tourist spots of New Caledonia that are Noumea, Isle of Pine, Lifou islands and the Mare Islands.
Generally the packages start from Noumea. The port of Noumea is reached by flight. One or Two days are spent in the port. The port has beautiful beaches, snorkelling activities, scuba diving, churches national parks, aquarium and libraries and museums.
The price of the packages depend on the number of nights spent and also on the luxury of the place of stay. On an average the price of the packages are in the range of 2230 to 3391 NZD for 5 night package. The cost includes tax. This is the cost of basic package per person. It includes flight charges and accommodation alone. Usually the packages do not include food in their charges.
Holiday Packages
Most of the tour packages do not include the extraordinary activities of New Caledonia like scuba diving, snorkelling, para gliding, surfing, hiking, etc. They often provide good English speaking guide to accompany the tourist in New Caledonia. This is done by almost all decent price packages.
There are packages offered in the range of 2051 to 2214 NZD including the cost for 4 – 5 nights. The main drawback with these packages is the itinerary. They skip many of the best spots of New Caledonia. They seldom include Mare Islands and some do not include the Lifou Islands.
To visit New Caledonia, one should hold a passport that is valid at least for 3 months after the departure date from New Caledonia. There are 2 types of visas to visit New Caledonia
French and American Citizens do not need a Visa to visit New Caledonia. The schenzen Visa holders of the European Union should get a visa from their respective countries. France is part of the Schenzen Visa program that allows visa – free travel in and out of certain European Countries. But New Caledonia is not!
The passport holders of the European Union, Switzerland need not get a visa. There are around 50 countries that do not require visa. Check out the list at the French High Commission Government Website. The tourists are required to provide the address of stay before travel.
The Australian citizens need not require a visa. The foreigner or the non resident Australian can visit the Island with the Australian tourist visa.
The tourists from rest of the world will have to approach the French Embassy near them to apply for a visa to New Caledonia.
kiwi's to New Caledonia
Kiwi’s with New Zealand passport can enter New Caledonia without a visa and can stays up to 90 days.