Tour Code: NCP22

 

ABOUT DESTINATION 

 

Ouvea has been called the ‘island closest to paradise’ by those lucky enough to have stayed there and it’s easy to see why – dazzling blue skies, a beautiful climate, friendly locals and a lagoon which has been registered by UNESCO as part of the world heritage of humanity.

 

Ouvea is one of the most beautiful atolls in the Pacific with its white-sand beach extending for 25 km, caressed by crystal-clear, sparkling water of varying hues. 35 km long and in some places less than 40 metres wide, with a total area of 132 km2, the island has a single road running north to south, sometimes along the endless beach planted with coconut palms that faces the lagoon and sometimes beside the intense blue of the open Pacific Ocean.

 

Ouvéa inherited the tag “island closest to paradise” in the 70s from Katsura Morimura, a young Japanese writer who came to stay on Ouvéa. Enchanted by the setting and the warm welcome, she called the novel she was writing "The Island Closest to Paradise" and placed the action on the island, telling of a romance between a young visiting Japanese woman and a Japanese descendant settled on Ouvéa.