Signal Island

 

The small but beautiful Signal Island

Noumea, our last port of call before Sydney. We had cobbled together our own group of 9 and arranged a private water taxi to Signal Island for a 4 hour turtle encounter. It was cheap and cheery but great value! Snorkels and masks were included if you didn't have your own. Our cruise mates were good enough to meet up early and we were first off. This meant that our water taxi was the first to leave for Signal Island and the first to return to port. It did get busier the later you arrived but not so that it wasn't manageable. We later found out that some cruisers hated it...oh well can't please them all! The seas were rough on account of some tropical cyclone lurking nearby, but the little pontoon boat was better than expected! The snorkeling itself was decent. We saw 3 turtles 5 metres away from the beach within the first 5 minutes, and plenty of colourful fish. If you do decide to come here, you have to bring your own food and drink and facilities are minimal. There is apparently a toilet block but it doesn't have toilet paper. There are, however, tables and chairs with shade.

The evening was a blur of further trivia attempts, photo opportunities and the soft opening of Marvel deck show. Only 2 more days left!

We docked at the cargo terminal. Free shuttle to the city terminal

Our water taxi

We're off!

First views!

Beach landing but civilised with a stool

Walking around the island. You can see the storm clouds getting darker

Parts of the route took us inland

where we encountered sea snakes....eek

Soft opening of Marvel show for the Australian season. Pretty long and complete with pyrotechnics!