Anchorage at Recif Tote, New Caledonia

We were on the way to another anchorage when we spotted this place and decided to hang out for a few days. What a great decision! It's a lagoon surrounded by reefs with just a couple of entrances in. The snorkeling was superb, especially out by the pass. Under the surface we saw lots of pristine hard coral, tons of fish, had a few white tip sharks following us around and came pretty close to a gigantic white-banded sea snake.

We've seen a lot of these snakes here in New Caledonia, far more than in any other area of the Pacific. While the venom in their bite can kill a dozen humans, their mouth is too small to really bite us and (like every other critter or person in the world) if you leave them alone, they leave you alone.

The anchoring was great sand and is a nice place to be with light winds. As there is no island to hid behind, you do catch the full effect of the wind and swells spilling over the reef so be sure to see this place on a calm day!