Nëkwéta Surf Camp started officially in January 2006 but started a long way back. Manu started representing New-Caledonia in the Oceania Surfing Cup in the mid nineties, and was lucky to surf locations like Tavarua, Samoa, and Tonga a few times. He saw these destinations evolve into surf destinations and knowing full well that the surfing in New-Caledonia definitely stood the comparison, he slowly matured the idea of creating a surf camp.
Of course, New-Caledonia being a rich country thanks to nickel mines and its links to France, means it is more expensive than its South Pacific neighbours. This was and still is a god-blessed barrier to massive surf tourism, and Manu’s whole idea has always been to get a small camp going, to give his guests a privileged access to awesome breaks, a beautiful lagoon, an authentic cultural and culinary experience. In other words: quality and not quantity.
That was the idea, so he bought a small piece of land with a corrugated iron shack on it a few years back and first worked on the garden, on weekends. Then he built a hut, the facilities and the little bungalow in the corner, with friends and family who helped him in the afternoons after the surfing-lunch-nap ritual. At this stage the Flores came to New-Caledonia and met Manu, Jeremy’s dad Patrick loved Manu’s project and thought about supporting it. At the time the Flores were still living in Newport, Sydney. Patrick and his good friends Grant, from Newport, and Yves, from Portugal, chipped in the business and helped to get things going a bit faster. Then came the deck with the fire pit, the kitchen, and finally the big open Faré with the dining room and the shop. At last, Manu got rid of the worn-down zodiac that had to be pumped up every half hour, and bought a solid banana boat.
The place has always been magic, now it has all the comfort and I would say it is ideal for groups or families of 6 people. Actually I can’t see any place better for a group looking for a good surf trip, where you can have a magic surf camp and a good boat to yourself, wicked waves to surf with a classic local guide, some sort of hybrid between Crocodile Dundee and Nat Young, with a wicked French accent of course.
