New Caledonia - Clearance
ARRIVAL FORMALITIES
Ports of Entry
Yachts arriving from overseas or departing New Caledonia can only do so from Noumea and may not stop anywhere else within the territorial waters of New Caledonia before clearing into Noumea. This includes Chesterfield Reefs, D’Entrecasteaux and Bellona groups.
Clearance is only possible at Port Moselle Marina or Port du Sud Marina.
It is no longer possible to complete clearance formalities at Lifou Island (We) (Loyalty Islands) unless yachts are participating in the Down Under Rally or the Island Cruising NZ Rally where the organisers arrange for clearance there.
General Process:
Arrival
- Fly the yellow pratique flag and the French courtesy flag on entering New Caledonian waters. The yellow flag must not be taken down until all formalities have been completed.
- Call Port Moselle Control on VHF Channel 67 on approach to Noumea. They will either give you a marina berth, or ask you to anchor outside the marina.
- The Port Moselle radio operator speaks English and is available from 07:00 to 18:00 every day
- All crew must remain on board until clearance has been completed.
- If arriving after hours/dark you are permitted to anchor in the authorized anchorages outside the entrance to the marina until the morning.
Authorities
Customs and Capitainerie can now be carried out at the marina office, whether you are berthed in the marina or at anchor. You will be given various forms to fill in and Port Moselle marina in particular will assist with all the Customs paperwork, free of charge.
Biosecurity will come to your boat if you are berthed in the marina. Alternatively if you are at anchor, they will arrange a time for you to bring your boat to a specified dock for an inspection. Food items may be confiscated (see Biosecurity for more details).
Finally, the skipper needs to visit the Immigration office, which is near the cruise ship wharf (25 minute walk from the marina). The marina will give you a map with directions. They are only open 08:00-11:30. You will be asked to fill out a form and sign a register.
CLEARING OUT
Departure clearance is only possible from Noumea.
Departing from one of the other ports must be approved by Customs and Immigration at least 15 days before leaving Noumea. Permission may be granted to stop for 24 hours at one of the Loyalties Islands – Maré, Lifou or Ouvea, or the Iles des Pines, but you must apply to Customs and Immigration at least 15 days before departure.
Foreign yachts are not allowed to stop anywhere after they have cleared out and must depart the territorial waters directly.
International Clearance:
On departure, Immigration, Customs and the Port Captain have to be visited. Remember:
- Immigration is only open 0:800-11:30.
- Customs is open 07:30-11:00.
- Port Captain closes at 11:00 (last office to visit).
Therefore, start early in the morning. It’s approx. a 2 mile round trip from the marina. Getting a group of skippers together and sharing a taxi may be the simplest solution.
Those planning to leave during the weekend must clear out on Friday. Port fees for 30 days (minimum length of stay) are payable when clearing out of the country with customs. There are no immigration charges when exiting.
Passports of all crew are requested by both Customs and Immigration, and Immigration will also want to see the outward tickets (or photocopies) of crew leaving by air.
In order to obtain duty-free fuel, ask for a paper from Customs when you check-out stating how many liters of petrol and diesel you want (better to over-estimate). It’s also possible to shop duty-free with your check-out papers in town.
All yachts are given 48 hours to leave after check out.
Last updated: September 2023
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Check-in. As usual things change. As of today May 22/23 Customs also closes at 11:00 like Immigration. However, taking the two day special as mentioned below the Office does take care of customs once you filled in the form. I just went to Immigration. At the marina I dealth with Sonja and she was the most helpful person on Earth.
Biosecurity does NOT come to your boat at anchor (as described on Noonsite Clearance) you have to bring the boat to the specified dock. Moselle Marina will arrange a spot on the dock for a specific time only, if you ask or they offer the two day berth special. Anchoring in front of marina is almost impossible as the whole designated Anchorage is packed with moorings. That in itself is not very inviting.
Re Biosecurity, all fresh food need be discarded also eggs, butter, popcorn, Yogurt but not bacon from NZ origin. Also not sour cream. I had no cheese so don’t know. Cashew nuts, all canned stuff and flour no problem.
I handed the goods over in a garbage bag plus another with “garbage” only I was told to drop in the bin ashore.
This is a summary of our experience arriving in and leaving New Caledonia in May 2022.
Prior to leaving for New Caledonia, we were in contact with a health official there who demanded pre-departure Covid-tests and a number of forms. We sent the forms but couldn’t do the tests because of timing. It turned out that neither the tests nor the forms were actually needed for clearing into New Caledonia.
Upon approaching Marina Port Moselle we called them on the VHF (several times, until they answered – keep trying!). They assigned a berth (the q-pontoon no longer exists) and had marina personnel waiting for us to take the lines. At the marina office, we filled in some forms, including those for customs. There is no longer a need to go to the Customs Office unless they tell you otherwise.
Our next stop was the Immigration Office, which we visited the next morning as they are only open until 11:30h. Use the map and picture of the office that the marina provides, as the entrance is not well signposted. That left only the post-arrival Covid test to be done the next day (you are asked to do it on the second day after arrival). It can be done at one pharmacy in town, for free.
To check out we had to go to immigration (again before 11:30h), customs, and the port authority.
SAFETY RELATED – CRUISERS ROBBED AT ATM
Just a few days ago a couple arrived in Noumea on their sailboat. They were planning to go out to dinner with friends of ours who were already there. They stopped at an ATM and were robbed. The woman was thrown to the ground where she sustained a broken wrist that required pins. She also received multiple lacerations on her body.
BE CAREFUL! Don’t use ATMs after dark and always be aware of your surroundings. At a time when inflation is hitting hard around the world more crime is likely to occur.
Feedback received from Sonja Novotny:
Our boat (with its previous owners) arrived July 2019 and we arrived in February 2020 to take possession of it. The borders closed March 2020 and both our personal visas and the boat have been renewed continually with no charges or maintenance requirements. The boat customs officials asked us how long we expect to stay and then gave us another three months past our estimate. The travel visa office has extended our visas every month without question, and the most recent visit resulted in a three month extension, without us even asking for it.
Everyone has been incredibly helpful and kind. They understand that the only country currently open to us is Fiji and they’re in a lockdown crisis at the moment, and no one suggested we leave during cyclone season.
We’ve been very fortunate to be here!
Thanks,
Sonja
While in Nouméa New Caledonia we needed assistance with our roller furling as it broke on the way from Fiji. “Little Wing’s” crew can highly recommend the services of Laurent Du Vaure of Pacific Accastillage located on the boardwalk at Port Moselle Harbor. He speaks English and has a great support team to help with any the necessary boatwork and finding parts. boat.savoirvivre@yahoo.fr
First time paying someone for a bottom paint job on a 39ft catamaran in Noumea. Does $1700 sound fair? Low? High? Any advice appreciated!
Any information on the best way to have parts sent from the US? Thanks
You can send spares parts to New Caledonia to a marina address, but make sure that “yacht in transit: xxxxx” is mentioned in the address.
FedEx or DHL are the recommended couriers. Get a copy of your customs clearance (IFT) at Customs office and show it to DHL or Fedex (by email is recommended) so they you will be exempt from of paying taxes.
Noumea Yacht Services will receive your parts and arrange customs clearance, but charge a fee for the service.
Immigration is notifying everyone that as of January 2019, it will be a requirement to have a health insurance certificate which includes repatriation when you clear in. I’m not sure what is going to happen if you arrive without this insurance.
The best thing you can do is buy the Rocket Guide to New Caledonia…
https://cruising-newcaledonia.com/
This comment only applies to the Bulletin au large, or the offshore forecast.
The new information provided above for the local forecasts is correct.
The information about weather forecasts on VHF is also outdated. They stopped doing that years ago. Today you have to listen on Ch16 and Noumea Radio will announce that the weather forecast will be broadcast on Ch65.
It seems to happen around 1130 and 1630…but it’s not consistent, sometimes early, sometimes late, so leave Ch16 on all the time and wait for it.
After 6 weeks in New Caledonia, I realize my post below is not 100% correct. How it works is, for example, the 400CFP/24hr option…
It runs at up to 6mbps for the first 200mb and then drops to around 1mbps for the remainder of the 24hrs, so it is in effect always on. BUT our experience is that it is not always LTE or even 3G.
In a lot of bays, we have been in all you get is E or EDGE which is VERY VERY slow. Otherwise, on 3G it works OK. The rest of my comments about this arcane system still stand.
The post about the internet is misleading. Unless you sign up for a monthly plan there is no “unlimited” internet. The carte Liberte only gives you two options as detailed 100Mb for one hour @ 90 CFP (~A$1.20) or 200Mb for 24 hours @ 400CFP (~A$6).
I know because I just bought one. 200mB gets you nowhere…some web pages use that just to open the home page. You cannot recharge your account via the internet, you can only do it with vouchers bought at Mobilis agents…
It’s a last century system because it’s govt run and there’s no competition. By comparison, the Digicel product in Vanuatu is very user-friendly and inexpensive.
This isn’t…it’s expensive…very …and inconvenient as you have to keep sending text messages to keep it going…pathetic for 2018!
Regulations on pets aboard have changed and you’d be totally nuts to have a cat or dog aboard. The requirements are summarized on https://davar.gouv.nc/sites/default/files/atoms/files/procedure_cnct_yachts.pdf – there will be a 125 Euro fee for mandatory quarantine (even if you are stopping for a day for fuel) and you require extensive vet documentation from the previous countries plus advance notification and submission of importation documents prior to arrival.
Internet for yachts is now super good in New Caledonia – 3G and 4G LTE – and available almost everywhere around Grande Terre and the other islands. For what you’ll need and how to set it up visit
http://ncvan.us/nci
The Cruising Guide to New Caledonia (on the same website) gives you mobile phone/ internet reception at all 212 anchorages
The hard copy book by Joel Marc et. al. Cruising Guide to New Caledonia (South Pacific)is long out of print and very difficult to find.
See the comparison between the old book (done in the 1990’s) to the DVD interactive program here:
http://ncvan.us/book
It’s always been that way…if you need a Visa…Eu passport people don’t have that issue
Note: This restriction only applies to cruisers whose nationality requires them to have a visa for New Caledonia. Others are allowed a maximum stay of 90 days in any 6 month period.
The Noonsite Team
New staff and new policies at Customs and Immigration, New Caledonia. Recently, cruisers who left their boat in New Caledonia to fly home for a month were not granted a new 3-month visa after they returned to New Caledonia.
And we’re required to depart at the end of their first 3-month visa. Be sure you confirm with officials before planning to leave your boat in NewCal to fly out and back to renew your visa.