New Cal next week

I posted this on the windsurfing forum by accident. Surprised I didn't cop more flack over there.

I'm heading to New Caledonia next week with my girlfriend. I plan to get out on my kite at least 3-4 times if I can. Where are the best spots to go or does it really not matter. I'm only going to be able to take 1 kite, I've got a 10m and an 18m light wind kite. Wind Guru show between 8-10kn on the forecast so I'm thinking my 18m, but is windguru the best source for wind there or will I be way overpowered in the afternoons or something? My 10m meter is good from 14-30kn so I'd rather take that, but if wind guru's right then there's no point.

Cheers

... I've been there twice and it seems like it was a bit windier than what showed on windguru. Looks like it will be windy Wed-Sat.

You can kite at the far eastern end/around the corner of Anse Vata Bay in Noumea near Le Meridien Hotel. I went with the guys at Noumea Kite School: www.noumeakiteschool.com/ out to Ilot Maitre. Was pretty good fun cleaner wind and nice huge sandy/grassy reef flat to kite over, hired gear from them one time, brought my own gear another time, you can grab the boat with them either way.

I am surprised no one else has written in either, it was two short trips not really focused on kiting for me, I'm sure there are many others with a lot more experience in NewCal, like in this thread: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Kitesurfing-New-Caledonia/

Hey just got back. Thanks for the replies. I have to say, that was my first holiday were I took my kite and it was phenomenal! The beaches are stunning, I saw heaps of wild life while kiting, turtles, a dugong, big sting rays. It blew 18-25kn every single day which was lucky because I only took my 10 in the end. The best part about kiting there was that a spot out of the wind was always just a short walk away, so my girlfriend could set up on the beach and sunbake and read out of the wind while I kite surfed around the corner.

I kited at the meridian, an offshore spot but was shallow enough to stand up and walk upwind if in trouble. Ilot Matrie was perfect, I counted about 70 kites out there at one point over easter, but the shallow water extends far enough that there was plenty of open flat water room if you kite upwind away from the kite schools. We also stayed near Poe beach about 2 hours drive from Noumea and that was by far the most beautiful spot. It's fairly flat and you can kite what must be about a km offshore to the barrier reef and stand up the whole way. Great views and the most torqouise water I've ever seen.

New Caledonia as a tourist destination is pretty average though. My girlfriend is french so she organised everything and spoke to everyone. The people seem pretty unreceptive to tourists, french or not. Meals were super expensive and unless you did your research the quality was pretty low. I'll go back for a kite though