Recommendations for Ouvea/Mystery Island/Isle of Pines?

[Sonicked]

RCI has revealed to us that they aren't providing shore excursions to pre-book for these islands, so I would really appreciate some information as to what could actually be done at these ports, be it through organising tours off the boat, or things we should definitely try and see.

 

Thanks :)

[bazzaw]

These "ports" are little more than small Pacific island villages. Mystery Island is tiny - but the locals (who live on a larger adjacent island) have developed a very thriving little tourist industry that amuses most who go there. Isle of Pines is simply beautiful - not much there except for a bar on the beach (part of a resort) . Both these places, you need to swim/snorkel. They are beautiful places.

 

Hers is a blog post I made when we visited the Isle of Pines a couple of months ago http://pacificpearltotahiti.blogspot.com/2011/07/isle-of-pines-new-caledonia.html

 

Barry

[jegk1]

Enjoyed all three blogs and really appreciate the time and patience it had to have taken to share these experiences with us!:)

[mandy_sparkle]

RCI has revealed to us that they aren't providing shore excursions to pre-book for these islands, so I would really appreciate some information as to what could actually be done at these ports, be it through organising tours off the boat, or things we should definitely try and see.

 

Thanks :)

 

I would love to hear more about these ports. Are there other threads on this topic already?

I'd love to do something active and memorable, not just lying on the beach. Id really love to but my husband and I are pasty white and super freckly and burn so easily I dont want to be blistering for the rest of the cruise :/

 

Hope you have some stories of amazing experiences on these specific islands (ouvea, noumea, mystery island & isle of pines) to share. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sonicked]

I would love to hear more about these ports. Are there other threads on this topic already?

I'd love to do something active and memorable, not just lying on the beach. Id really love to but my husband and I are pasty white and super freckly and burn so easily I dont want to be blistering for the rest of the cruise :/

 

Hope you have some stories of amazing experiences on these specific islands (ouvea, noumea, mystery island & isle of pines) to share. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Looks like we're in the same boat (literally and figuratively), Mandy: My partner and I do love a good day on the beach but I can't say we're keen on it for three of the four port stops. Hopefully, when it comes down to it, we can all find something to do, but it would be nice to get a bit more feedback on what's actually available to us.

 

Thanks for sharing the blog post, Barry :)

[mandy_sparkle]

Agreed. I could handle some beach volleyball or something tho ;) hmmm volleyball & net defo not in the "strategic pattern plan". :)

 

I would love more info about our ports ( i didn't even get the memo about no excursions, as we booked thru the website not a TA). I guess the research up to us. The trip advisor website& iPhone app had good stuff on noumea, but I didn't check out the other islands.

 

 

Cruising Rhapsosy of the Seas, South Pacific from Sydney 27/11/12.

Mandy

[Gordo]

These "ports" are little more than small Pacific island villages. Mystery Island is tiny - but the locals (who live on a larger adjacent island) have developed a very thriving little tourist industry that amuses most who go there. Isle of Pines is simply beautiful - not much there except for a bar on the beach (part of a resort) . Both these places, you need to swim/snorkel. They are beautiful places.

 

Hers is a blog post I made when we visited the Isle of Pines a couple of months ago http://pacificpearltotahiti.blogspot.com/2011/07/isle-of-pines-new-caledonia.html

 

Barry

 

Thanks for sharing your blog - we enjoyed reading about your experience and viewing the pictures.

 

We definitely love to snorkel and are excited to read that this is a good option at both stops.

 

One area of concern is our ship size with no excursions available from the cruiseline. What was the size of your ship and did you find this to be an issue?

[bazzaw]

We were at Isle of Pines recently on Pacific Pearl - with about 1800 passengers. Ship size itself is no problem - as it is a tender port. I don't really think that the increased number of passengers on a larger ship would be a problem too much there either - except for the numbers who will try to get a drink at the beachfront bar there . :p I believe we drank them out of beer while we were there!!

[cjm66]

Thanks for sharing your blog - we enjoyed reading about your experience and viewing the pictures.

 

We definitely love to snorkel and are excited to read that this is a good option at both stops.

 

One area of concern is our ship size with no excursions available from the cruiseline. What was the size of your ship and did you find this to be an issue?

 

I did notice the difference on Mystery Island - from 680 passengers on last visit with Pacific Princess to 1800 this time on Pacific Jewel. People did spread out however and the queues for drinks and lobster were far less than regular ship board buffet queues. Shade could be a problem so take a broad brimmed hat and turn your umbrella to better uses as I saw several doing - I did an off the beach snorkel tour with a local boat and recommend this if you like to snorkel but do not like doing it in a crowd - there is a guide to take you through and around the fringing reef and the price is fair $20 for a good hour - less pp if you make up a small party.

 

Colleen

 

 

 

Colleen

[Gordo]

Thank you both for information.

 

I did notice the difference on Mystery Island - from 680 passengers on last visit with Pacific Princess to 1800 this time on Pacific Jewel. People did spread out however and the queues for drinks and lobster were far less than regular ship board buffet queues. Shade could be a problem so take a broad brimmed hat and turn your umbrella to better uses as I saw several doing - I did an off the beach snorkel tour with a local boat and recommend this if you like to snorkel but do not like doing it in a crowd - there is a guide to take you through and around the fringing reef and the price is fair $20 for a good hour - less pp if you make up a small party.

 

Colleen

 

We will be visiting next month and I think Rhapsody of the Seas can be anywhere between 2,000 and 2,400 passengers and so we are somewhat concerned with the smaller islands handling the large volume of visitors, especially since there are no cruisline options for three of the four ports.

 

Do you know if we need to be some of the first people off the ship to hire these local boats or do they rotate so that there is always availability? I am guessing first off gives us more options but thought we would ask.

 

Thanks again for the help.

[cjm66]

 

Do you know if we need to be some of the first people off the ship to hire these local boats or do they rotate so that there is always availability? I am guessing first off gives us more options but thought we would ask.

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

I suspect this will depend on the passenger profile. I ate a leasurely breakfast and waited until almost 10 am to get a tender ticket and was ashore in time to book for an 11 am snorkeling tour. The tour did not leave until 11.20 because they were hoping for some more takers - I ended up being the only taker. As I arrived back, I saw a group of three young men setting off for a fishing trip and another larger boat being prepared for a group of 8 or so. Most people seemed to prefer the free snorkeling and the white sand beaches to purchasing a tour. They do run the tours to a sort of timetable and presumably this could be stepped up with extra boats using the ever present mobile phones if there was increased demand.

 

Enjoy your day on Mystery Island - all you need is fine weather to have a wonderful day!

 

Colleen

[Gordo]

I suspect this will depend on the passenger profile. I ate a leasurely breakfast and waited until almost 10 am to get a tender ticket and was ashore in time to book for an 11 am snorkeling tour. The tour did not leave until 11.20 because they were hoping for some more takers - I ended up being the only taker. As I arrived back, I saw a group of three young men setting off for a fishing trip and another larger boat being prepared for a group of 8 or so. Most people seemed to prefer the free snorkeling and the white sand beaches to purchasing a tour. They do run the tours to a sort of timetable and presumably this could be stepped up with extra boats using the ever present mobile phones if there was increased demand.

 

Enjoy your day on Mystery Island - all you need is fine weather to have a wonderful day!

 

Colleen

 

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Do you know if that is the same for the other islands - Ouvea and Isle of Pines?

[cjm66]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Do you know if that is the same for the other islands - Ouvea and Isle of Pines?

 

Hi Kimberley. Cannot recall Ouvea - I think we were there on a Sunday - very much closed for the day. Have been to Isle of Pines several times - only once with ship excursions available for booking. On the other occasons we either stuck around the beach and snorkeled "the rock" and once we did a local "island tour". There are tour operators offering various tours immediately to the right when you get off the tender and around to the left near the area where the locals put on dance shows and set up market stalls. I recommend the island tour if you want to get away for a short trip - not much time to explore - they are usually keen to get back and pick up a fresh group, but it was a nice drive and good scenery.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

.

[Gordo]

Hi Kimberley. Cannot recall Ouvea - I think we were there on a Sunday - very much closed for the day. Have been to Isle of Pines several times - only once with ship excursions available for booking. On the other occasons we either stuck around the beach and snorkeled "the rock" and once we did a local "island tour". There are tour operators offering various tours immediately to the right when you get off the tender and around to the left near the area where the locals put on dance shows and set up market stalls. I recommend the island tour if you want to get away for a short trip - not much time to explore - they are usually keen to get back and pick up a fresh group, but it was a nice drive and good scenery.

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for sharing the additional information.