My mate and I from the FNQ Mob at Port Douglas are going to Noumea for a windsurfing holiday in September. Just wondering if anyone can give us advice on how much it costs to hire some decent gear. We are going to be there for two weeks and was wondering if anyone has some contacts for long term gear hire. What kind of money per day it might cost in Aussie Dollars and any other tips people have.


Thanks in advance

Gear is around AUD30p/h to hire, but you'll get it cheaper if you hire for a few days. New Cal is wildly expensive. $30 for a burger and chips. $45 for a pizza. At least $150 for a 3 course meal. Small hire car is around $180 per day.

Rather than New Cal being wildly expensive, I'd say the aussie dollar is weak compared to our franc

Nigel's prices for windsurfing are correct, as he said get a deal for long term rental, it will much cheaper. I still recommend bringing some gear with you, ask Nigel, I think he had a good deal with the airline.

Rates at Aloha windsurfing :
http://www.alohawindsurfing.com/tarifs.htm

As for the other prices, might be worth shopping around as I am not used to the rates you mention Nigel :
at the moment 1$ = 76 francs (that's very low !!we were used to 1$ :90/100 francs)




That's 14$ for menu combo

I have a mate looking at going around Easter would the wind have disappeared by then?

It's windy all year, just not as strong in july/aug/sept

Thanks Sean, would you recommend Noumea as a wavesailing destination...have heard it's very good but mostly outer reef breaks only accessible by boat?

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seanhogan said..
Rather than New Cal being wildly expensive, I'd say the aussie dollar is weak compared to our franc

Nigel's prices for windsurfing are correct, as he said get a deal for long term rental, it will much cheaper. I still recommend bringing some gear with you, ask Nigel, I think he had a good deal with the airline.

Rates at Aloha windsurfing :
http://www.alohawindsurfing.com/tarifs.htm

As for the other prices, might be worth shopping around as I am not used to the rates you mention Nigel :
at the moment 1$ = 76 francs (that's very low !!we were used to 1$ :90/100 francs)




That's 14$ for menu combo

The actual exchange rate is never as good as the official exchange rate. It was less than 1AUD = XPF68 when I was there in October 2015. I think I got about 1 to 60 from the ATM.

Based on the pizza menu posted above at the exchange rate I paid, that's $46 for a calzone You would expect to pay around or less than half that in Sydney, which is considered one of the most expensive cities in the World.

As for the burger menu, a salad is $19 and it's $19.50 for the XXL burger. You then need to add $8 for chips and $6 for a can of drink. Now you're looking at $35 for a burger, chips and drink (plus VAT), which is more than I said in my OP. And I'm guessing this is one of the cheapest burger joints in Noumea. If you're going to eat on the main strip in Anse Vata, you will pay quite a bit more than this. If you eat in the resort it will cost you double that.

The hire car is 5250? That's $77 per day, but I looked everywhere and couldn't get a price anywhere near that. I rented a Suzuki Swift through Budget. Booked it 3 days in advance and it was about $160 per day for 2 days. Then to fill up the tank when I gave it back cost me $110. OMG!!

Anyway, despite the exuberant cost of everything in New Cal, it is a great windsurfing destination for slalom and B&J.

I'm not trying to turn people off traveling there, I just think it's better to be realistic about the costs. If people don't budget correctly for their holiday it won't be much fun running out of money 5 days into their stay... they won't be back if that happens. It's a lot more fun when you have enough money to enjoy everything and that means having the right budget. For me that was $200 per day.

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seanhogan said..
Rather than New Cal being wildly expensive, I'd say the aussie dollar is weak compared to our franc

With regard to the Aussie being weak compared to the XPF, that doesn't make sense because 1 AUD buys 70 XPF. Economically speaking that means the Aussie dollar is a far, far stronger currency... 70 times stronger

As for the exuberant cost of living there, well that's because New Caledonia has very little in the way of local produce, nearly everything is imported. Given the Pacific Franc is so weak these imports cost a fortune and that cost is passed on to the consumer. Hence why you pay $20 for a basic garden salad and $45 for a calzone. It's very simple economics, not rocket science.

Come to think of it, I would have a can of Coke zero with my calzone and salad so that's $70 for dinner right there And that's not even taking into account the wife and kids.

New Caledonia is expensive no matter how you sell it.

Just to press the point further, here's an excellent article on the cost of living in NC compared to other French territories, sighting New Caledonia as the most expensive French territory of them all, with (for example) food costing 65% more than it does in France. Tahiti being 26% higher than France and Reunion just 6%.

You can read more here: newcaledoniatoday.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/food-65-more-expensive-in-new-caledonia/

Holly mama so only canned sardines and coconut if I visit NC one day.

So eating oysters at the seafront restaurant at La Croissette in the Cannes promenade is actually cheap comparing to NC for the French...ouch

the blog above is a an interesting read, certainly some issues on costs of living, which are always going to be higher on remote islands, but this high?

I think we need to send Con the Fruiterer and some Aussie farmers over to NC and get some serious produce happening.

the costs haven't put me off, just may be a bit shorter in time and more sailing less eating! maybe pack a fishing rod and some rice and you will be self catered!

Anything from the bakery is around the same as Ozzie prices, so just stock up on bread, baguettes, croissants, cheese and bacon rolls etc. And the French sure do know how to make a chocolate fondant Then just buy a chunk of brie (imported) for about $5 and some ham for the same from the local corner store. Breakfast and lunch for about $15-20. Save your money for a nice dinner. You can eat cheap, just not eat out cheap. So if your smart and watch your expenses you can probably get away on about $120 per day. My $200 per day budget included an allowance for car hire and a trip to the other islands. Definitely a place worth visiting at least once if you love sailing in consistent warm wind with super friendly locals and 100s of fellow windsurfers... it's incredibly popular over there.

Went to NC last month and will definately be going again next year.
My tip is to stop at the Carrefour on your way to the hotel and get all the food you need. I think Carrefour is the cheapest supermarket and you can get everything and anything you need at one place. There is also a Decathelon store near the Carrefour which is pretty handy.
We stayed at the Ramada. The room had a little kitchen and breakfast was included.

Bit like eating out in Hawaii by the time you add the gratuity,state sales tax,exchange rate and credit card charge just take the menu price and multiply by 2 and you have the A$ amount that you will be paying.
We are extremely lucky in Oz to pay as little as we do and have the choice we have ,by comparison ,for eating out.
Guess self delivery is the answer when in these places.

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N1GEL said..

seanhogan said..
Rather than New Cal being wildly expensive, I'd say the aussie dollar is weak compared to our franc

I'm glad I went in 2012!! :)

The bakery, the supermarket and beach side BBQ chicken vendors is definitely the best value food option.

Hi guys, thanks for all the information. I'm wondering what kind of deal you could get with gear hire for 10 days - my mate and I included?

Is the wind in September good?

Just wondering how N1gel worked out his gear transport on the plane over. We are travelling Jetstar from Cairns to Brisbane, and then Air Cali [Qantas] over to Noumea. Is it worth bringing a board and a full rig over?