eFoil regulations & spots in New Caledonia
Legal but zoned. No boat licence is needed, but a 5-knot limit applies within 300 m of every shore, unregistered beach craft under 3 kW may not leave that band, and boards over 3 kW must be registered with the DAM. Nouméa's swimming bays and Province Sud reserves are closed to motorised craft.
Regulatory overview
New Caledonia writes its own pleasure-craft rules, so the metropolitan "planche nautique à moteur" category does not apply and no local text names eFoils. The Direction des affaires maritimes (DAM) registers craft, arrêté n° 2/AEM of 10 August 2005 sets coastal navigation rules, arrêté n° 2025-575/GNC of 2 April 2025 zones Nouméa's beaches, and the Province Sud Code de l'environnement governs the lagoon's reserves. An eFoil is either an "engin de plage", a craft with a motor of at most 3 kW (4 hp) exempt from registration, or, above 3 kW, a registered motorised craft carrying "NC" marks like a jet ski.
No boat licence is required: the DAM states that the permis mer is not mandatory in New Caledonia, only strongly recommended, and candidates must be 16 to sit it. A board over 3 kW must be registered with the DAM. The DAM's sea-safety guide requires one individual flotation device per person and a light-signalling device on any board more than 300 m from the coast, with nothing mandatory inside 300 m; wear the kill-cord. No insurance, age or PFD-wearing rule specific to eFoils was found.
The 300 m coastal band is decisive. Arrêté 2/AEM limits all craft to 5 knots within 300 m of the waterline along the entire coast and around every island and islet, buoyed or not. Engins de plage may not go beyond 300 m, so an unregistered sub-3 kW board is legally confined to 5 knots. Personal watercraft may not run at night and cross the band only via marked channels at 5 knots. Around Nouméa the 2025 arrêté closes buoyed swimming zones (ZRUB/ZRUBS) to all registered craft and declares motor-free zones (ZIEM) at Baie des Citrons, Anse Vata, Île aux Canards and Baie des Pétroles. In Province Sud the integral reserves (Îlot N'Digoro, Yves Merlet, Récif Sèche Croissant) are closed to all craft, seasonal reserves such as Îlot Goéland and Îlot Signal/Ouano ban motorised craft in their buffer zone from 1 October to 31 March, protected islets carry a 200 m exclusion band, and vessels must slow to 3 knots within 300 m of a whale.
Breaches of arrêté 2/AEM are prosecuted under the merchant-marine disciplinary code and article R610-5 of the penal code; Province Sud environmental offences carry heavier criminal penalties, enforced by the DAM, gendarmerie and provincial rangers. Province Nord and the Loyalty Islands apply their own provincial rules and customary usage, so ask locally before riding near villages or islets. Register any board over 3 kW, launch through a marked channel and only open up beyond 300 m, avoid the Nouméa bays, and check the Province Sud Guide du lagon map before heading to the islets.
Disclaimer
This guide summarises publicly available regulatory information as of the last-verified date above. Regulations change. Always confirm with official sources and your local maritime authority before launch.
