Jinek Bay in Lifou marine reserve pass

I will be going on the royal caribbean and stopping of at lifou i wanted to go to Jinek Bay in Lifou,

Iv been reading that other cruise lines you have to pay $15 for a marine reserve pass to gain access .And only 100 people at a time

can anyone tell me if royal caribbean passages can still go to jinek bay.

Thank you:)

Hi I have just been snorkelling there last week. It is $15 and I don't think there was any limit to the amount of people. Lots of fish etc, just beautiful.

You pay when you get there and they just put a band on your wrist.

Were you on a Royal Caribbean cruise?

I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise last week and yes it was $15

Hi Cheryl & numbersgirl,

What was the weather like last week?

I will be in Lifou, Noumea & Champagne Bay next week.

Never cruised before.

Expecting it to be hot & humid....was this the case for you?

Were you on a Royal Caribbean cruise?

Based on her signature that would also be true for wildweston. :)

Apologies. I didnt see/read the signature.

Hi, yes I was on Rhapsody. The weather was a bit hot which made it great for swimming, we had a lovely sunny day. I live in Qld and I would say it is much hotter at home than it was there. I didn't mind the $15 to snorkel. Champagne Bay is gorgeous, people there very well mannered. I did a trip to the blue hole for $5 which was really good. You definitely need reef shoes at Lifou, Champagne Bay and the blue hole, do not go without them, it was by far the best tip I have ever been given.

Great to hear you had such a great time at the places we are going to.

Two final questions did you pay the snorkelling at Lifou and the blue hole fees in Australian dollars? And I am keen to go to Blue Hole but I am concerned about mosquitos. Were there any at Blue Hole?

Last time I was in Lifou there was no charge.

Where have they built the access viewing platform, where they had the ladders or closer to the church on the hill end, were you can snorkel by walking down some rocks where it isn't crowded?

We will be returning there soon & I was looking forward to snorkelling again as I found Lifou one of the nicest places to snorkel, I still think so after having dived/snorkelled Hawaii & Tahiti last year.

I don't want to miss out if they do limit access.

Although we are usually on the early bird tenders & know where to go, so that should help.

Problem is I doubt any charge will stop the ignorant people that stand on corals. :(

I'm also curious about whether we will need the local currency, or if $AUD is ok?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

You can pay $15AUD or local currency (I think the local currency charge was $1000 but I cant recall exactly as I had the $15AUDpp ready to pay)

No problems with Australian dollars at all, take smaller notes though :)

We were there on Rhapsody in Nov 2012, no fee then.

Do you pay the locals or the cruise line?

There is a local with a small foldup table and moneybox on the small landing area next the the steps leading into the water. He collects the money and gives you a wristband. On the day we were there was a strong swell, so there was another local on the steps helping people in and out of the water. Later, he went out on a surf ski and kept an eye on the snorkellers.

Bronika, we went there on the carnival spirit in October 2013 and you had to pay for Jinek Bay onboard, which was $15. We didn't do it, and were told by one of the staff onboard just to go over and pay at the Bay. Unfortunately, when we got there the local guy who was supervising said it was limited to 100 people and they were sold out, so we missed out. Might be different for RC but better to be safe rather than sorry.

Can someone please confirm regards my question about exactly where they have built this access platform?

I'm assuming it's where the main access area was with the ladders that went down into the water? That area was to the far right of the grassed area that you arrive at after leaving the road.

If so, can you still access the entry to the left of that nearer the church on the hill end as I prefer to snorkel there anyway away from the crowds.

From the sound of it you don't pay unless you go onto their platform, is that correct, or do they stop you accessing the water from anywhere but the platform now?

Thanks.:)

I was considering trying to get to other side of the island when we visit Lifou in 2 weeks. Does anyone know if this is easily achievable either by hire car or paying a local?

I was considering trying to get to other side of the island when we visit Lifou in 2 weeks. Does anyone know if this is easily achievable either by hire car or paying a local?

There are a few local tours at Lifou that go around part of the Island.....they were in a mini bus for two hours,around $35 p/p last week.

We had a look and it didn't look to exciting,heard from others that it was a little boring and a good place for a beach stop.

The locals sell beer $4 and soft drinks and there is shopping in the markets....not cheap though.

Some photos of the new platform and stairs.

Hi guys,

Travelling to Lifou on RCI in a few weeks. I have read the posts however still confused if RCI offer the option to pay this onboard to guarantee admission if there is a passenger limit? If so, is this done through the shore excursion desk?

Thank you!

It is run entirely by the locals. RCI did not advise passengers that there is a fee to snorkel at Lifou. There were a couple of disappointed groups who did not snorkel because they were not aware of the fee.

Re limit to numbers - I have heard this is the case with other lines. But again there is no advice from RCI. We got there pretty soon after we docked so we had no issue with getting in.

Thanks for the photos. how deep is the water.

When I previously snorkelled at Baie De Jinkek there was some snorkelling spots quite shallow - 1 metre or so.

There is ofcourse deeper snorkelling the further you go out. A lot of the deeper areas had raised underwater rocks you could rest on every few metres as well.

Just becareful as the depth is a bit uneven with a lot of uneven coral, it can be easy to scratch yourself on the rock or coral if you're not careful

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have just come back from a RCI cruise and there was no mention of snorkelling at Jinek as it is your own arrangements. There was a $15 AUD charge per person and they gave you a wristband. We went early in the morning when it was a bit quieter so I'm not sure if there was an enforced time limit or passenger limit.

There was a sign to the side though whiff appears to indicate that Carnival offers this as a short excursion, and that tickets must be purchased on the ship and clearly states you are unable to purchase tickets at Jinek.

I would strongly recommend if this is something you want to do and the shop offers it as a shore excursion, to book your tickets through the ship.

It seems that they have an agreement with the cruise line that if the cruise line offers this as an excursion, the locals won't offer admission independently for that cruise.

Definitely worth the admission fee, amazing snorkelling but you do need to be careful as there is some pretty large corals.