Money and Banking in New Caledonia
South Pacific Francs XFP
New Caledonia money is the South Pacific Franc or Cour de Franc Pacifique, abbreviated XFP or CFP. It is tied to the value of the French Franc at a fixed rate of 0.55 FF equal to 1 CFP..
The Bank Caledonienne d'Investissement (BCI) has branches throughout New Caledonia can can provide cash advances on credit or debit cards. The BCI has the lowest commission for exchanging foreign currency or travellers checques.
There are ATMs in Noumea that accept Cirrus credit cards and debit cards.
The best place to cash travellers checques is at the American Express Office on rue near the Place des Cocotiers. They do not charge commission for cashing or selling American Express travellers checques.
Expensive living
Noumea is expensive. If something costs $1 in Australia you will generally find the same product for 120 CFP in Noumea. With the CFP valued at 74 per $1 Australian that means the $1 item will be costing around AUD$ 1.6 plus any exchange commissions at the bank. In general, living costs are about 60% higher than in Australia.
Parts and supplies for boats are even higher because of the import duty on such items.
There are exceptions to this rule of thumb. High quality marine products imported directly from France are often reasonably priced. The price of a skilled tradesman - carpenders, welders, electricians will often surprise you - and they do excellent work.
In the market, fresh vegetables (often imported but also locally grown) are stunningly expensive but fresh aquacultured prawns are an excellent buy. Locally grown chickens are the highest priced in the Pacific - possibly in the world - but imported frozen chickens from the US are reasonable. French wines and excellent locally produced beers are reasonably priced in the supermarkets.
Download or order the very best cruising guide to New Caledonia right now and find the answers to all your questions about sailing and shopping in New caledonia.
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If you want the guides without delay and without the postage and handling fees, and if you have a good fast Internet connection you can download your guides now and save money.
After payment you will get the download links immediately. We recommend using a download manager like www.freedownloadmanager.org to speed up the download and so the download can resume should your connection get momentarily interrupted.
Once downloaded, you can transfer the guides to your cruising computer by USB key and then activate the cruising guide for that computer.
After payment you will be transferred to a page with installation instructions and download links. We will also send you an email with the same information. The links are only valid 48 hours so be ready to do the big downloads within 48 hours before making payment.
The cruising guide needs to be activated the first time you run it.
For details on downloading and installing the guides click here.
For details on activation of the cruising guide click here. |
Download the Cruising Guide to New Caledonia 540MB and the companion Activity and Travel Guide 617MB for US$155.00. The download links are valid for 24hrs. |
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Download the 4 guides to Vanuatu and New Caledonia (245MB + 548MB + 617MB + 540MB) for US$240.00 |
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Order your cruising guides on CD-ROM |
Order your copy right now - this guide is a two CD set including the Nautical Rocket Guide to New Caledonia and the Tourism Rocket Guide to New Caledonia. US$165 for the 2 CD set plus US$10 postage and handling. |
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| If you are also planning to cruise Vanuatu, we offer a 4 CD set that includes the New Caledonia guides plus the latest Nautical Rocket Guide to Vanuatu CD and it's companion Rocket Guide to Vanuatu. US$250 for the 4 CD set plus US$10.00 postage and handling. |
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New Caledonia
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