YEJELE BEACH - NEW CALEDONIA

YEJELE BEACH - MARE - LOYALTY ISLANDS - NEW CALEDONIA

LAST VISITED DEC 2017

YEJELE-MARE-NEW CALEDONIA relative to other places in this section - 1 KIBOLA-KIRIWANA-PNG  2 MYSTERY ISL-VANUATU  4 NOUMEA-NEW CALEDONIA  5 ISL OF PINES-NEW CALEDONIA  6 LIFOU-NEW CALEDONIA.
Numbers may be clearer if you click-expand image.

The LOYALTY ISLANDS lie just to the north of the NEW CALEDONIA'S main island (GRAND TERRE) - MARE is one of the eastern most of the LOYALTIES and is about 150km in a direct line NNE of NEW CALEDONIA'S capital, NOUMEA - and 370km SW of MYSTERY ISLAND in VANUATU.

MARE (maa-reh although most say maaa - rey) is a raised coral atoll - the uplift has been about 40m and a lot of the island is a coral based plateau with some impressive sink holes - however there are some hills, the highest reaching 138m. Population is only 6900 scattered over abt 30 villages and 2 small towns - TADINE and LA ROCHE (adjacent the northern airstrip).
YEJELE BEACH is not the only beach but is one of the biggest and is the best reasonably close to where the ships anchor in sheltered TADINE BAY.

YEJELE is abt 800m long, and is protected from south-east swell (the south-east trades seem to blow most days here) by a good offshore reef approx 200m off the sand. That's the lower-most wave-break line in the image above.
This makes for pretty benign water conditions in the 'lagoon' behind - very shallow (medium-light area) and could be confused as the beach - the beach is the LIGHTEST thin crescent in the image above.
In 5 visits I've not seen any waves breaking on the shore or experienced currents. However a keen snorkeling friend told me of some good tidal currents way out thru the passes in the reef. Not many people venture out there.

YEJELE BEACH from near the western end. Gradient is moderate, sand more white than yellow, not too much coral debris on beach - however there was some and with the softness of the sand I have always thought reef booties would be a good accessory here.These days variety stores sell elchepo reef booties - I love my K-MART ones.
This pic taken 2017 visit - low tide saw hard sand near water which was heavily trampled in more crowded central areas making for easy beach walking.

Note plenty of vegetation for shade back of beach. 
One downside of YEJELE is that central areas tend to get crowded - figures since this was the only ship tour option offered by the LEGEND in our 2017 visit.  Also from Royal Caribbean's VOYAGER OF THE SEA 2018. 
However you can avoid the crowds by heading for the western end shown pic above this, or....

....some neat little patches of sand against the eastern headland. By their appearance it looked like they would survive high tide. I waded across easily (shin deep at mid tide) - sea bottom underfoot not too bad but once again if you have reef booties bring them..

Shower set up in central beach area at left. Toilets in this area too. Buses back to pier at TADINE left from behind camera - good service: a bus or van leaving every 10minutes

Locals have heaps of stalls under the trees in back of the beach selling hot food, cold beer and other drinks, plenty of clothing, touristy trinkets and of course the usual hair braiding and snorkel gear hire. Prices reasonable.

Quite a few nice bommies (patches of coral) in lagoon - tended to attract plenty of snorkelers. Coral and fish will keep novices interested: hard core fin-folk may be less than impressed. Water very clear. Some snorkelers were captivated by stuff closer the sand - I had a look: some nice whiting-type fish there.
Every 50m or so was a local dressed in Aussie life-saver attire giving intense concentration to swimmers-snorkelers despite benign conditions.
CAVEAT - some reviews report BLUEBOTTLES (the SW PACIFIC'S smaller less venomous Portuaguese Man of War stingers) but in 5 visits I have seen none. Nevertheless RASH VESTS like the people above will minimise problems - also a no-brainer against sun burn.

UPDATE - didn't bother to catch the bus down to YEJELE in JAN 2019, but people returning mentioned plenty of bluebottles. LADY TEZZA added prior to my writing this update that people on social media were complaining of the same just today, over a week after our visit. Maybe JAN/FEB is not such a good time to go into the water down there.



TADINE

This is the pier area 11km NNW of YEVELE - but it is also fine for a nice breal off the boat if you don't want to hop on the bus and go to YEJELA beach. I have done this on 3 occasions.

Locals usually have a group in native costume singing near the pier - good photo ops. but this cheapskate doen't go fer cheesy stuff.  Donations appreciated. Nearer the buses they have set up stalls offering much the same as down at the beach but on a more limited scale. 

YELLOW ARROW - tender pier. CHARCOAL - upper village. PASTEL PUPRLE - buses to beach.

The TADINE precinct. Yu can see the UPPER VILLAGE is pretty compact. (fer scale it is 950m/1040yds between the 2 place markers).
Note nearest patch of sand for CRUISE VISITORS not wanting to go down to YEJELE BEACH is near top left of image. Not sure of access down from the coastal road - as a BEACH BLOGGER I should check these things. But at nearly 73 years old I just can't be bothered. So sue me.

In the shot above P AND O have their shore tours tent up in case you haven't booked on the ship, but I've not seen other cruise lines do this. But you can always pay at the busees. In earlier cruises locals also had tour counters at considerable savings to the ships' stuff but latest cruise these were absent. I heard they have closed plateau SINK HOLES to visitors because they got a bit dangerous.

Locals have a bunch of stalls offering the usual clothing, artifacts, snacks and drinks - but nowhere near the variety of the beach stalls.

TADINE VILLAGE - Walking inland up the hill about 500m gets you to TADINE VILLAGE if you feel like a wander. The road up has a good footpath - slopes never above moderate. Pretty flat on top. The village itself is quite small - can walk all of it in abt 20mins.

TADINE PRECINCT - you can see UPPER VILLAGE is not real big. 

Voyager of the Seas from the village - 2018

Some village facilities like are in the pier area - this supermarket is only a short distance up the approach road.

The upper village is no traditional south sea hamlet of twisting dirt tracks and grass bures. This is the main road outside the new school  (background). Other public buildings consisted of town hall/police, and hospital. A chemist and a church were on the approach road.

Even the backstreets are sealed. House at left was about the most delapidated I could see - roof close to renewal. All houses featured western bungalow style with pastel stucco walls and metal roofs. Most seemed to be on extensive blocks.

IF YOU FANCY JUST HANGING AROUND THE PIER AREA IT'S AN OKAY PLACE FOR A SWIM OR SNORKEL

This is a lee coast for prevailing winds, and in 6 visits I've never seen it windy or the sea more than calm here.
The coastline around TADINE is all rock platforms and small bays but the water is clear, has some reasonable  fringing coral and okay fishies. 

One of the easiest places to enter the water is immediately north of the pier where there is a kind of boat ramp (YELLOW ARROW) - take care, ramps can get slippery - don't ask how I know but I actually jumped in off the rocks. The pool off the ramp has some fringing coral and fish + you can swim into the bay where things improve. Will keep novice snorkellers happy but hard core types have seen way better.
Smaller pool (PASTEL PURPLE) has good entry with a set of stairs where LADY TEZZA is standing. Very protected, good for kids but a bit deep if they can't swim. Open to sea via inaccessible cracks in rock platform.

There is no sand in the area (the nearest is a small beach about 800m north - access may be difficult) 

Best bet for sunbathers is on the boards above plus nearby flat concrete where people were sunning on towels.

PACIFIC JEWEL - SEPT 2014

TADINE is a good anchorage - sheltered and the ships can get reasonably close to shore. Hence tender transfers are shortish and not rough. Always great to get back on board - first action: make a beeline for the buffet.

ACCESSING MARE - most visitors are cruise-line passengers but I once saw a van with backpackers in TADINE - it's possible to fly in with AIR CALEDONIE, BETICO run a fast ferry several times a week and there are several accommodation options including AIRBNB.
The island is also a popular call in for cruising yachts.

IF YOU SEE MISTAKES OR HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE POST BELOW.

BUT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK THEM IN THE FORUM SECTION WHICH I CHECK MOST DAYS WHEN NOT TRAVELLING - WHEREAS I SELDOM REVISIT THESE INDIVIDUAL DESTINATION PAGES.