Aquarium des Lagons

The aquarium at Anse Vata presents the marine life of the New Caledonian lagoon and the waters beyond it, and two things distinguish it: a long-running programme keeping and breeding the nautilus, a deep-water animal that few aquariums manage to hold, and a tank of corals lit with ultraviolet to show the fluorescence that the institution's researchers helped document. Sea snakes, turtles and reef fish fill the rest. The institution also runs a turtle rehabilitation programme, and animals recovering from injury are sometimes visible in the holding tanks at the rear.

What you actually see

• The nautilus - the deep-water shelled cephalopod kept and bred here.
• The fluorescent corals - the ultraviolet tank showing coral pigment fluorescence.
• The lagoon tanks - reef fish and invertebrates from the surrounding water.
• The sea snakes - the banded species common on New Caledonian coasts.

When to go

Year round; the aquarium closes Mondays. Feeding times are posted daily. Wet-season afternoons fill it up.

Honest expectations

It closes on Mondays. The aquarium is modest in scale compared with major institutions. Labelling is mostly in French.

Nearby

Anse Vata beach is outside, and Île aux Canards is offshore.