Internet In New Caledonia
New Caledonia has an excellent Internet service.
Internet cafés in New Caledonia are seriously expensive compared to Australia, the US, France, etc. Expect to pay about AUD$10 to 12 per hour. The BEST deal, if you have a WiFi notebook, is to go the Noumea Yacht Services kiosk in Port Moselle Marina (near the veggie market) and get a week's open ended high speed WiFi connection. This works a treat on the Visitor's wharf in Port Moselle so if you need to spend some time online that's the way to do it.
If you only need to get your email and minimum browsing you can do it while cruising without an ISP account using your mobile phone if you purchace a pay-in-advance GSM Carte Liberte (a sim card package for your mobile phone) and a pay in advance Carte iZi.
The Carte iZi is one of those "call from any phone" code cards - which includes your mobile phone AND a very low cost Internet connection allowing you to connect for only 4.5 cfp per minute (very cheap). BUT also pretty slow. The advantage here is that you can hook up from your boat just about anywhere near a population center along the coast of New Caledonia - and even in remote areas if you happen to be in line of sight of an antenna.
As a helpful hint, in some anchorages surrounded by hills it helps to use a blue-tooth or WiFi connection between the phone and your computer and hoist the phone up to the top of the mast.
If you plan on cruising in New Caledonia on an extended basis you can get an "always connected" GPRS plan from OPT for 10,000 cfp per month (GPRS data only - voice is extra). Arrange this at the OPT commercial office in Noumea.
There are also many Internet Cafes around Noumea within easy walking distance of Port Moselle Marina but if you want to log on while aboard, Carte iZi and a mobile phone is a good choice.
Internet sites on New Caledonia
To check out other Internet sites of interest to yachts, see:
Le Nouvelle Caledonie On Line - Mer, eau and
Bateaux, voile for a selection of yacthing type sites.
All of the Navigational Warnings (in French but pretty easy to understand) are posted at:
http://www.pc-secoursenmer.nc/avis_urgent.htm
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