Top Reasons to Go

Take a Dip in the World's Largest Lagoon: New Caledonia is home to the world's largest lagoon; it's approximately 9,267 square miles and is surrounded by the world's second longest coral reef.

Poke Around a Prison: The immaculate Isle of Pines was once a penal colony and there remains a crumbling, late-19th-century stone prison.

Enjoy Cross-Cultural Hospitality.: They speak French, yes, and you'll be served baguette and croissants, but there's no snoot here; the New Caledonians are warm and friendly.

Eat Bougna.: This traditional dish is a mix of meat with yams or sweet potato; it's wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked under hot rocks.

Discover Strange Flora and Fauna.: Nearly eighty percent of the island's vegetation is endemic, alongside nearly 3,500 native animal, bird, and bug species.