Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# School Holiday Disaster?! Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / New Caledonia
travelfriendly 01:53 UTC 06 Nov 2007 | Well after carefully picking out dates to book a trip to New Caledonia (Tuesday 13th to Tuesday 20th November) we have just realised it is smack bang in the middle of their own school holidays. As yet we have not booked any accomodation or transfers or.....anything.......(except the air tickets of course) and have run into a possible problem with Isle of pines.. We were hoping to stay on the isle of pines for three days but we are now not sure if we will find any accomodation there at such short notice.. Im just wondering if we can find accomodation there if it will be worth staying there with all the holidaying families? Or if we would be better to just do a day trip out to the island? Or if we should just skip it all together and go up to one of the Loyalty Islands. We have a heathly budget to work with but im not sure that will help us much... Our trip is mostly for snorkling, relaxing on the beach and experiencing the french atmosphere... Any advise would be much appreciated....... Jenna |
mandja 04:43 UTC 06 Nov 2007 | I would get on to the local Tourist Bureau at once. You could email them but I wouldnt wait, rather I would telephone them - heres the link. I would also call your airline as they often have an allocation for peak times. Enjoy. | 1
mandja 04:45 UTC 06 Nov 2007 | <blockquote>Quote <hr>with all the holidaying families<hr></blockquote> I doubt that IDP will be overrun even allowing for the school holiday. The only time that it is very busy, is when cruise ships dock. Even then, they tend to stay on the side of the island nearer the wharf. | 2
5waldos 05:10 UTC 07 Nov 2007 | Well- don't know about NC, but in much of the Pacific the problem with school holidays is the planes- the kids are coming from all over to visit. The locals rarely go to the places that tourists do- It would surprise me. Usually the families stay with family. | 3
tropicgirl 08:13 UTC 07 Nov 2007 | Are you sure you've got your dates right? The holidays are usually from mid December till late Feb/early March. In any case, I often visit NC in December/January and have NEVER had a problem with accommodation even when I booked last year a week before we left. Try the Gite Kuberka. They should have some vacancies. | 4
travelfriendly 08:23 UTC 07 Nov 2007 | Hi there, Thanks for the advise so far. Yep I double checked and they are definatly on school holidays (for one week) next week. I have emailed the Tourism company (havent been able to ring yet) and a few hotels but have had no replies so far so it is time to get onto the phone I think.. | 5
ann_l 02:41 UTC 09 Nov 2007 | Gite Nataiwatch is a lovely place, see their page: http://www.nataiwatch.com/eng/contacts.php<BR><BR>Be careful not to climb the rock in the sea, it's sacred and should be treated with respect. On the east coast and Baie d'Oro, try Gîte Regis: gitechezregis@lagoon.nc or phone +687-43 45 55 Enjoy! | 6