Using Park Moorings in New Caledonia

 Using Park Moorings in New Caledonia

Ilot Maitre Marine Reserve - Mark Rolle Photo

The South Province installed and maintains 120 moorings in 18 marine protected areas to prevent damage to coral reefs and seagrass beds from anchors and chains.

To ensure reliable moorings, the South Province provides regular and thorough maintenance, with a budget of 5 million francs per year.

The Province does not set a maximum yacht size for using the moorings, relying on the good judgment of captains ⛵

1. The South Province does not guarantee the safety of yachts over 10 meters long using the mooring in winds over 20 knots or with onshore winds.
2. Only use a mooring when it is sheltered from wind and waves.
3. Be careful when approaching or leaving a mooring to avoid damaging it with your propeller.
4. Approach buoys slowly, facing into the wind or current, and watch for swimmers and boats already moored.
5. Give priority to buoys closest to shore to make maneuvering easier for future arrivals.
6. Check the condition of the mooring line before attaching to it.
7. The minimum line length to attach to the eye is 5 meters, or 10 meters if you run the line through the eye and back to your boat for a double harness.
8. After mooring, if the buoy is pulled underwater, extend your line, increasing horizontal tension until the buoy floats.
   
   

Unfortunately the captains of many yachts don't know about or follow the requirement to use a minimum of a 5 meter line for tying up to the park moorings and this can (has) caused a few of the moorings to break. 

A catamaran broke the mooring line at Ilot Amedee in 2025 and went hard aground on the reef causing irreparable damage to the corals and very serious damage to the yacht. Not only did the captain have too short a mooring line - he did not realize the winds were about to shift to the NW and the moorings are NOT able to handle a big yacht when the wind and waves build up with an offshore wind.

Have a look at this image. One - only one - of the catamarans has a reasonable mooring attachment line. The mooring line on the Catamaran on the left is nowhere near 5 meters long. And the big cat on the right has tied up right on top of the mooring.

This may happen because in some countries, like Australia, moorings are often set up with the lines between the buoy and the mooring block three or four times the water depth and yachts normally tie up to the buoy with short tethers. 

But the lines on the park mooring blocks are really short - at high tide it is sometimes difficult to pull the mooring attachment loop high enough to get your mooring tether through the loop.

In short, it's up to the captain to create sufficient scope - and, as the South Province says, 5 meters minimum and if the buoy is pulled underwater when the wind is up, add line until it floats again. 

Or get off it. 

To ensure reliable moorings the South Province carries out regular and rigorous maintenance. The park mooring are free to use and they provide crucial protection to the corals and sea grass beds. 

Within minutes, a vessel anchored in 3 meters of water can destroy up to 100 m² of coral or seagrass that took decades to establish. 

Hey, have a look at what the moorings at Ilot Maitre Marine Reserve are protecting from all those yachts. I took this image on a reef right smack in the middle of where all the yachts are moored. If you want to see this beautiful reef as a 3D sphere image just give it a click.

And there are millions of delightful creatures, like this Spanish Dancer nudibranch living amidst the corals.

You'll also discover rare sea creatures, like this green sea turtle (nearly extinct on our planet) enjoying the lush sea grass beds protected by the moorings. Want to see this critter at Ilot Maitre in a sphere image where you can look all around? Just click on the image.

It's little wonder yachts fill up the available moorings on weekends and holidays. So it pays to arrive really early in the morning or on a weekday. If you do arrive when the moorings at Ilot Maitre are packed full you "could" find a sandy area in the sea grass beds outside the mooring area but - - - 😉⛵ my advice is to sail on to one of the other super marine reserves or pick one of the non-reserve islands shown on the Rocket Cruising Guide to New Caledonia and enjoy the fabulous marine life of the world's largest coral reef lagoon.

OH, one final but very important warning!!!! Do NOT pick up private moorings in Noumea Harbor or anywhere else. They are not rigorously maintained like private moorings in Australia or New Zealand and every time there is a strong westerly wind some of the moored yachts wind up ashore.