Located less than 10 minutes from the city center, Baie des Citrons is today the most connected seaside spot in the Caledonian "capital". Stores, bars, restaurants and night clubs follow one another along the promenade, much to the delight of tourists and Nouméans…
The origin of the current name of the Bay, previously named Anse du Styx from the name of an old steam sloop, remains questionable. For some, the Bay is named because of lemon trees planted there before 1900 (they are no longer there). For others, it has never been a matter of lemon trees! The Bay took its name from six huge trunks loaded on a ship that ran aground there.
The anecdote is without doubt more ironic than true but it speaks volumes about the mystery surrounding the Bay which has become, over time, one of the main tourist emblems of the city of Nouméa.
A connected promenade
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![beach of baie des citrons]()
Celebrate an oh-so-festive environment!
Not so long ago, when New Caledonia was a remote isolated archipelago in the world, the arrival and the departure of the tall ships coming ashore in Nouméa were really a big event. And it is at the sailing stones, at the eastern end of Baie des Citrons that the crowd used to gather to bid farewell one last time to the ships sailing off to the main city. Now, the crowd is always big at Baie des Citrons but the crowd no longer celebrates ships whizzing towards the horizon but celebrates what is out there in an oh-so-festive environment!
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![baie des citrons in Nouméa]()
Night and day, the number of visitors at the Bay does not decrease
As soon as the sun goes down, after tourists and Nouméans have begun to desert the beach, the heart of BD (as Nouméans affectionately nicknamed it) throbs again to the rhythm from the bars, shops and restaurants that dot the promenade, nearly a kilometer long, and this continues until late in the night.
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![baie des citrons in Nouméa]()
Ideal place for Sunday walk
Particularly sheltered from the prevailing winds, Baie des Citrons offers a privileged environment to enjoy, during the day, its calm waters and lounging in the sun in the shade under the large banyan trees that surround it and, to greatly experience the 100% festive evenings!
It is also, par excellence, the Bay along which the Noumeans like to take a Sunday walk, while enjoying a tasty ice cream.
