New Caledonia: Hot Tubs & Cascades

Beautiful morning at Prony Bay's Carenage A anchorage.  New Caledonia.

New Caledonia's Carenage A made Wayne's top 5 list of Prony Bay (aka Prony Baie) spots to anchor due to its hot tub, cascade* and hiking trails.  This popular anchorage is wide, protected and able to accommodate quite a few boats.

*not quite a waterfall though much downward tumbling of water over a wide stretch rocks -- just too short to be considered a water fall.

Cascade near Carenage A anchorge, Prony Bay, New Caledonia.  View from where my kayak's parked.

Cascade, Carenage A, Prony Bay, New Caledonia.

Our take on the anchorage....

Carenage A

1. is pleasant and protected - gorgeous glassy-calm water surface in the morning
2. the hot tub is more of a rustic tepid tub, but still pretty and worth a stop AT HIGH TIDE, also gets a bit crowded on weekends with sprawling Caldoche locals making in hard to walk around
3. trails are there, but much better at Carenage B, Anse Sebert and Ilot Casy
4. cascades are pretty and it's cool to be able to simply dinghy up to them AT HIGH TIDE, though far prefer the hoof to the cascades and beautiful waterfall at Carenage B
5. decent kayaking area, along the mangroves, though the horseflies were annoying
6. a natural meeting place for fellow cruisers, given its popularity
7. like nearly all Prony's anchorages - beware the staining red-orange mud

Dock to "hot" tub, at high tide, Carenage A, Prony Bay, New Caledonia.

Dock to "hot" tub, at low tide, Carenage A, Prony Bay, New Caledonia.
My kayak, which needs only a few inches of water, still required some dragging to escape.

Tepid tub at Carenage A, Prony Bay New Caledonia.

An added bonus - stingrays!  Saw them while kayaking after another kayaking cruiser alerted me to look for them.  We both found them hanging out in the shallow sandbar between the anchorage and the hot tub and cascade.

Carenage A:  Visit or Not?
Of the Prony Bay anchorages we visited, we'd rate Carenage A 4th, a ways after top 3:  Ilot Casy, Carenage B, and Anse Sebert (Prony Village -- as a short stop).  If you're pressed for time, you might skip this stop.  Still, a very pleasant, trouble-free spot to stop.  A bit boring, compared to the alternatives, is good in our cruising experience!

We kept seeing these bizarre-looking schools of fish jumping around us in Carenage A, Prony Bay, New Caledonia.

Interested in cruising in New Caledonia Prony Bay?  
Here’s our Prony Bay area stops, more or less in sequential order:

• Something you need to know about Prony Bay (aka Oompa-Lumpa-ville)
• Boise Baie near Havanna Pass (S22.21.113 E166.57.268)
• Ouen, Koube Bay (S22.26.279 E166.48.179)
• Prony, Ilot Casy's North side (S22.21.075 E166.50.647)
• Prony, Ilot Casy's more popular West side is white sand (S22.21.075 E166.50.647)
• Prony, Anse Sebert, Prony Village (S22.19.264 E166.50.647)
• Prony, Baie du Carenage B (S22.18.267 E166.50.622)
• Prony, Baie du Carenage A (S22.18.149 E166.51.365)
• Prony, Anse Majic -- aka Rade De L'Est G (S22.22.903 E166.54.816)*
• Baie Ue (S22.20.666 E166.42.228) - short stay- too rolly when we were there! interesting high-tide mangrove dinghy ride
• Baie Ngo (S22.18.898 E166.44.912) - now very industrial! also a bit rolly

*watch an for upcoming post on this anchorage

Wish we had an image of our boat, looking as pretty as CaVa did in Carenge A, Prony Bay, New Caledonia!

Location Location

This post was written about our time in New Caledonia's Prony area, from late September to early October 2016.  We are currently in Australia's Gold Coast, near Steiglitz, and Meridein and Horizon Shores marinas (S27.45.299 E153.21.258), Queensland territory.  Just a few more catch-up posts from New Caledonia still coming, along with more from our current Australian cruising.

My kayak:  a great way to check out Carenage A,
Prony Bay, New Caledonia.

Cruising By the Numbers

• Our November 2016 sail from New Caledonia to Australia, 790 miles
• Our September 2016 sail from Vanuatu to New Caledonia was 305 miles.
• Our August 2016 sail from Fiji to Vanuatu was 525 miles.
• We cruised just under 440 miles in Fiji, between late May and early August.  
• Our May 2016 sail from New Zealand to Fiji was 1090 miles.
• December 2015 - May 2016 if we weren't cruising New Zealand or hunkering, we were making massive road trips from New Zealand's tip to its tail.
• From December 2014 - November 2015 we sailed from Northern Florida's Atlantic side to New Zealand, over 10,000 miles, with more than a few stops in between.
• December 2013 - May 2014 we sailed 1792  miles from Jacksonville Florida to the Bahamas and back.
• March 2012 we bought Journey in St. Lucia.  September 2012 we moved aboard, did some boat work, then sailed her to Jacksonville Florida by June 2013, 3762 miles.

Gazing off Journey's bow, Carenage A, Prony Bay, New Caledonia.

Up Next
After Gold Coast, we’ll sail to Pittwater, near Sydney  for boat work, ~400 miles. Weather may force us to stop along the way.