île aux Canards

On tour with cruise ship, nice day trip. Pretty island, fair snorkeling- saw turtles, many fish. Nice to relax away from ship. Best to take your own snacks. Take water-shoes as beach quite corally.

Beautiful island. full of corals and fishes. Great place for snorkeling. We used the glass boat to get there and it's quite close to the shore. It is also fun to walk around the small island. We had such a great time there.

After reading all the reviews online for Duck Island, we decided to spend a couple hours on Duck Island, If you want to enjoy the good side of the Beach you will have to pay for Beach chairs (as all the reviews advise they are expensive) unfortunately, they do have the nest side of the Island where they clear the beach from all the Coral and rocks. We opted not to hire one but instead explore the little Island, there are very few spots to sit and enjoy the water but depending on the weather the spots are not worth swimming. There is a restaurant on the Island with a few good selections of cocktails, a little expensive compared to the main island. Also great views of Noumea from the Island with photo opportunities.

I was surprised to see how close it is from Anse Vata beach but I love the island for its lovely, clear water. It is not really a white sandy beach but you can enjoy the lovely swimming session and snorkeling as well. Too bad when I came here it was just a day after the storm so the visibility was zero. But I still enjoy the day out here. There is a cafe here as well where you can order some drinks and finger food. And you can rent the umbrella as well as the snorkeling gear if you don't have yours.

Only 5mins from Noumea (1500xpf by taxi boat on the mainland - look for the yellow/red flag) but full of tourists. Beaches covered in dead coral which is surprisingly painful so bring water shoes! Snorkelling is pretty good but better on the further islands so not my favourite. Would come if you are short on time/need convenience. Popular with young families.

If you are staying at Noumea, going to Duck Island is a no brainer. The best way to get there is taking the glass boat from the pier in front of the Burger King. In my view this island is better than others that are usually better rated (eg Amedée and Maitre). The corals are abundant and very close to the shore. Even my six year old kid could easily go and see all sorts of corals and fishes.

As someone suggested in their review, most of the coral reefs are dead but they are still refuge to lots of colourful fishes. I snorkelled there for more than an hour and was lucky to swim with turtles. Not worth renting anything from the island. No fresh water bath available. It is only available on the mainland beaches (5 min away by a ferry). Lovely helpful people on the mainland beach at Rock sail stop ( Hop on Hop off bus). Very hot and two chairs and an umbrella cost about 46A$.

Have to say the snorkeling was disappointing, most of the reef is dead but there are plenty of fish. My sister and I came here and brought our own drinks and food and they didn’t seem to mind as drinks and food are very expensive.