France
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
16,648km²
Area
1,249km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
1,629m
Highest point
Mont Panié
28°C
Warmest sea
February
1,177km
To the mainland
When to go to Grande Terre
Best for the beach in June and from August to November.
The sea is warmest in February (28 °C) and coolest in August (23 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Principal island of New Caledonia
Grande Terre is an island in France. It covers 16,648 km², with 1,249 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mont Panié, rises to 1,629 m. The nearest mainland is 1,177 km away.
Getting there
- La Tontouta International Airport (NOU)main airport (3 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at NOU airport (Nouméa)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesBac de la Ouaième
- 1,177 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- June and from August to Novemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Grande Terre.
- 187beachesplage bivouac du confluent, Baie de l'Anse Vata, Plage de Carcassone and 184 more
- 202viewpointsCap Reine Charlotte, Belvédère de la Poule, Vue du Pic Monnier and 199 more
- 2lighthousesPhare de Woodin
- 3ferry terminalsOuaième Nord, Ouaième Sud, Dauphins
- 7marinasMarina Port du Sud, Marina de Boulari, Marina de Port Ouenghi and 4 more
- 102named peaksMont Panié, Mont Humboldt, Kouakoué and 99 more
- 130waterfallsGoro waterfall, Cascade de la Kubini, Cascade de la Kuebeni and 127 more
- 1castles and fortsFort Téremba
- 142ruins and archaeological sitesAncienne Mine Surprise, Ancienne Carrière Surcouf, Pétroglyphes de Paita and 139 more
- 2dive centresTieti diving, STIM - Plongée
- 16waymarked walking routesUTNC, Petite boucle, Grande boucle and 13 more
- 52campsitesCamping de Netcha, Camping Municipal de Bouraké, Kampeengkool and 49 more
- 202hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 258restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Grande Terre in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Grande Terre, each with its own numbers.
41beaches and covesCoastya
739mountainsPeakyas
1lakeLakeyas
Highest point
1,629m
prominence 1,628 m · according to Peakyas
Largest lake
33.3km²
Lac de Yaté
7 m deep · according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
27.4°C
Lac de Yaté
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
28.1°C
Plage de Mahamaté
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
41 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Anse Vata Beach26.9°C
- Népia28.0°C
- Mon Plaisir26.7°C
- Plage du Méridien26.9°C
- Plae du Chateau Royale26.9°C
- Plage de Nébondi28.0°C
- Plage de Tiakan28.0°C
- Plage de Mahamaté28.1°C
33 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
739 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Mont Paniéprominence 1,628 m1,629m
- Mount Humboldtprominence 11,845 m1,618m
- Humboldt1,406m
- Nékando1,132m
- Pic François1,115m
- Plateau de Dogny1,000m
- Dent de Saint-Vincent996m
- Ne Diéredouma912m
731 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lac de Yaté7 m deep33.3km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 274 m above the sea. 49 % of it is below 200 m.
- 21 %0–50 m
- 28 %50–200 m
- 33 %200–500 m
- 16 %500–1,000 m
- 1 %1,000–2,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
200 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Nouméa93,060 people
- Mont-Dore24,680 people
- Dumbéa19,346 people
- Païta12,617 people
- Vallée des Colons8,866 people
- Magenta7,169 people
- Rivière-Salée6,873 people
- Bourail5,531 people
- Poindimié5,006 people
- Koné4,572 people
- Houaïlou4,562 people
- Portes de Fer4,093 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 28 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Night low (°C) | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 23 |
| Sea (°C) | 27 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Rain (mm) | 162 | 156 | 213 | 120 | 100 | 84 | 60 | 60 | 48 | 53 | 71 | 115 |
| Wet days | 18 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 8.1 | 7.4 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 18 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | −0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.4 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | +0.4 | +0.2 | −0.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +1.5 |
| 2022 | +1.1 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +1.4 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +1.8 | +1.5 | +1.6 | +1.9 |
| 2023 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.7 |
| 2024 | +1.7 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +1.3 |
| 2025 | +0.7 | −0.2 | +0.5 | +1.2 | +1.0 | +1.2 | +1.2 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +1.3 | +2.2 | +1.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q256293) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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