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Travel | <strong>Magazine</strong> 59<br />
I enjoyed an incredible overnight stay at Doubletree<br />
by Hilton Ilot Maitre Resort. Sitting pretty in a marine<br />
reserve, this alluring island resort has serious brag-factor,<br />
home to New Caledonia’s only overwater bungalows.<br />
Moreover, they’re the closest overwater bungalows to<br />
New Zealand – and unlike other South Pacific overwater<br />
offerings, they won’t cost you the earth.<br />
Just a 20-minute boat ride from Port Moselle in<br />
Nouméa, Ilot Maitre is a stupendous island escape,<br />
with all the trimmings. Stand-up paddle boarding is<br />
wildly popular given the languid, benign waters of the<br />
lagoon, while a spot of snorkelling here is instantly and<br />
repeatedly rewarding with the marine reserve status<br />
revving up the aquatic show. Best of all, the lagoon<br />
brims with green sea turtles. Over the course of an<br />
hour snorkelling in the lagoon, I encountered a dozen<br />
of these graceful mammals.<br />
But the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the<br />
unfurling necklace of overwater bungalows, fanning out<br />
into the lagoon. Sumptuously designed and generously<br />
sized, savouring a sunset in such a setting is beyond<br />
dreamy – it’s delirious.<br />
“If you want a tropical island getaway<br />
with a little Parisian panache and the<br />
best baguettes in the South Pacific, you’ve<br />
come to the right place.”
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