[b]Shore Tours[/b]

[khicks1101]

I am doing a cruise covering Noumea - Champagne Bay - Wala - Vila - Mystery Island - Isle of Pines I have looked on P&O site for similar cruises and the only shore tours that show are in Vila.

 

Does anyone know if this is correct, and if not what tours are there in which stops.

 

Thanks guys.

 

K

 

[karmac]

I am doing a cruise covering Noumea - Champagne Bay - Wala - Vila - Mystery Island - Isle of Pines I have looked on P&O site for similar cruises and the only shore tours that show are in Vila.

 

Does anyone know if this is correct, and if not what tours are there in which stops.

 

Thanks guys.

 

K

 

[ATTACH]33550[/ATTACH]

 

You will certainly be able to do tours in Noumea. I think I've read somewhere that you can do a tour at Isle of pines but I've never been there (yet). As for Wala, there are no P&O tours but you can do a walking tour with the locals. It doesn't cost anything but take gold coins with you for donations along the way. It takes about 1&1/2 hours and is well worth doing. It's been 20 years since I went to Mystery Island & Champagne Bay but these are just basically beaches (beautiful ones at that) with markets to look around. Champagne Bay is the most beautiful place on earth as far as I'm concerned. Mystery Islands really nice too. You'll enjoy just lazing around or going for a swim.

 

Karen

[Kazza1]

You will have tours in Noumea and Vila. If you "e'brochure" the South Pacific Island Discoveries Shore Tours from the P&O site it will tell you all the tours available on which ports. http://www.pocruises.com.au/html/brochures.cfm#broch1

Champaigne Bay and Mystery Island I haven't been to yet, so can't answer those one's.

As Karen said, Wala has a really good tour by the locals for donations. My family really enjoyed this tour.

Isle of Pines is a beautiful port. We spent all day swimming and snorkeling and didn't know that the locals did a tour. Next cruise we will do the local tour.

 

Karen

[Skyrules]

I am doing a cruise covering Noumea - Champagne Bay - Wala - Vila - Mystery Island - Isle of Pines I have looked on P&O site for similar cruises and the only shore tours that show are in Vila.

 

Does anyone know if this is correct, and if not what tours are there in which stops.

 

Thanks guys.

 

K

 

[ATTACH]33550[/ATTACH]

 

Noumea - there'll be lots of tours available. Our selection - Myths of Kanak Culture and Le Petite Train.

 

Wala - no organised shore tours here, but the walking tour of the Island put on by the locals is a must, bring plenty of gold coins for donations in the villages along the way.

 

Mystery Island - nothing here. You can walk completely around the island in about 1/2hr (if you're slow). It's about 1km long and 500m wide. The locals do set up some of the best markets in the South Pacific, and a photo of you sitting in the Cannibal's stewing pot is one you have to have.

 

Isle of Pines - no P&O organised shore tours here, but local tour operators do come down and meet the tenders at the wharf, offering various activities around the island. For something non-organised, take a walk about 1km up the road to the ruins of the convict prison.

 

Champagne Bay - can't help you there as we haven't been there yet ;)

 

 

Kym

[chaz cruiser]

Wala - no organised shore tours here, but the walking tour of the Island put on by the locals is a must, bring plenty of gold coins for donations in the villages along the way.

 

One of the things we found out when we were at Wala is to also bring small denomination notes. The locals need to change the money to Vatu and the banks do not accept coins. As such they need to change them with passengers (which we did quite a lot of!) or be ripped off by money changers who come onto the Island after the ship leaves.

 

Champagne Bay - can't help you there as we haven't been there yet

 

Champagne Bay is my favourite Island. It's also special as P&O don't go there as often so it's a real treat when you get there.

 

At Champagne Bay there is the option to take a local organised tour to the blue hole. For those who don't know Champagne Bay is at the top of the same island as Luganville so you can tour from there to the blue hole for a lovely swim. Note you usually sit in the back of a ute and I think it was about $10. We decided to spend the time enjoying the fantastic water.

 

Champagne Bay has to be the nicest place to swim. The water is warm but has an ocassional cool layer on top, very refreshing. If you go right down to the end of the beach you will also find the reason for it being called Champagne Bay, where a natural spring meets the ocean and there are bubbles on the surface.

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[kezza]

With Champayne Bay you can get a tour to the Blue Lagoon for $10pp but they now also charge $3 to walk down to the lagoon. this is a new fee from the last time we were there but it is wortht the $3. They also had a canoe which cost $5 and the guy took you for a good look around the lagoon. It apparently was well worth the $5. For the $10 they drive you upto the highest point to look out over the sea then a drive thru a village which has a church and school and some housing. Again this is worth the $10. It would certainly cost a lot more if P&O did a tour!!

 

The locals do a tour for nothing at Wala and again this is very good. At the end of it you go past where some of the locals live so you see the houses made of the vines that you see on this tour. As suggested, just take gold coins for donations and $5 notes to change afterwards.

 

I have heard that on Isle of Pines you can walk to the top of one of the hills and have heard that you can hire bikes for a ride around the island. it is a beautiful island but haven't done the walk so someone else may no more.

 

 

Kerri

[Chivalrygirl]

When we were at the Isle of Pines there was a nice young man with a glass bottomed boat. Well it has a strip of glass up the middle and folk sit either side. We were unlucky and didn't see that much, so I think it depends on the weather a bit. We did see a lot of dead coral however, a bit of a worry, I think.