Bellona Coast

The sea here lies east of Grande Terre, where scattered coral cays and reef banks break the swell of the open Coral Sea. Many of the cays are low, so ships relied on sighting breakers and discoloured water to avoid them. Indigenous people of the Loyalty Islands, Lifou, Maré and Ouvéa, sailed these waters between their islands and the great island to the west.

Captain James Cook passed the coast of New Caledonia in 1774, and later European vessels coasting the eastern shore met the same reef-lined waters. The Chesterfield reefs lie farther east in the Coral Sea, a reminder that the reef world reaches far beyond the main island.