Looking for a holiday destination that is truly extraordinary? Fancy someplace with a beach and sailing opportunities, plus the cuisine and ambience of a metropolitan city. A perfect holiday that provides all of this is a trip to the French settlement of New Caledonia, situated about halfway between Fiji and Australia.

This island is situated farther south compared to other South Pacific islands, benefiting from southeast trade winds, plenty of sunlight and warm weather. If a sailing holiday is what you are intending to have, New Caledonia is situated in a part of the Pacific that has the largest coral lagoon in the world. Sailing charters are available and with the assistance of the trade winds you can sail out of the capital city of Noumea along the coastline, past numerous small islands that dot the ocean around the New Caledonia. Other outdoor activities on the Island are scuba diving, snorkel diving, horseback riding, canoeing, and kayaking.

If you were thinking of a gourmet holiday, you can find everything you could want on New Caledonia. New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea, also known as the Paris of the Pacific. Noumea offers delicate gourmet French food and wine along with the other benefits of a active cosmo town. The restaurants here are some of the best in the South Pacific. Colonized by France in 1853, New Caledonia has a distinct French influence when it comes to food.

There are lots of eateries, ranging from sidewalk cafes to high-class bistros. French cuisine is easy to come by, but other selections include Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and African food. Seafood is a speciality of the Island, including spiny lobster, prawns, crab, and mangrove oysters. One of New Caledonia’s national dishes is Bougna, which is fish or chicken, combined with sweet potatoes and bananas wrapped in banana leaves and then baked covered in sand on hot stones. For the adventurous traveller on a gourmet vacation, you can try out a dish common with the locals, bat stew.

You can make a holiday to New Caledonia anything you want it to be: a sailing holiday, a gourmet holiday, or a time to just relax by the beach.