These interactive guides for Windows and Macintosh are easy and fun to explore, bringing the magic of the South Pacific right to your screen.
With detailed anchorage information, stunning images, and insider tips, you’ll find everything you need to design an unforgettable journey through these breathtaking tropical destinations.
Experience the New Caledonia Lagoon with complete confidence. With 220 personally surveyed anchorages, 240 verified GPS routes spanning all islands, and over 1,000 high-resolution color images, you'll have everything you need to navigate and explore safely.
Plan your onshore excursions like a travel professional. From restaurants and treks to car rentals, road maps, sights, tours, and more—this guide has it all. Originally created for the New Caledonia Tourism Department to train travel experts worldwide, it's now available to help you design the perfect New Caledonia adventure.
because we love cruising these islands—and we want you to share in that same joy.
For over 20 years, we've been updating the guides two or three times a year to ensure you always have the latest, most accurate information to design the perfect cruising adventure.
Sail the Friendly Isles and discover 170 carefully surveyed anchorages, complete with precise hydrographic details, 160 verified GPS routes, and over 500 vibrant color images. The Rocket Guide covers all of Vanuatu, from Aneityum in the south to Hiw in the northern Torres Islands, providing everything you need for an incredible cruising experience.
Plan your perfect onshore experience: shop, dine, tour, explore the sights, and immerse yourself in Vanuatu's magical culture. Originally created to train travel professionals, the Rocket Travel Guide provides all the insights you need to experience one of the few places in the world where you can enjoy an ancient traditional culture while feeling safe and truly welcome.
""Rocket Cruising Guides are a must-have resource for every Pacific Rally participant planning to sail to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Packed with everything you need for cruising —detailed anchorage information, breathtaking photos, and a wealth of local knowledge—these guides will make your voyage unforgettable."
Viki Moore Pacific Rally
Instant travelling in hyperspace
with no Internet
The Rocket Guide opens with a view of the whole country from space. Navigation is easy and quick. You can go to any location by just pointing and clicking on the satellite image. When you point the cursor to a location on the image a popup window tells you what you'll find when you click to zoom in. Click the back arrow on the menu bar to go back to the last scene
High Resolution
Satellite & Areal Images
Click on the menu icons to overlay chart information - depths, navigation markers, lights, plus sailing directions, anchorage locations and GPS Routes. Click on the information icon to overlay points of interest, like beaches, dive spots, treks, marinas, repair facilities, mobile phone (internet) reception, VHF channels, and more. At each zoom level the information is specific for the area you are looking at.
Click, Click
and you're there.
Two clicks will rocket you from any island, region or anchorage to any of the 220 anchorages in the Rocket Cruising Guide to New Caledonia or the 170 anchorages in the Rocket Cruising Guide to Vanuatu.
You can also use the search index (the binocular icon on the menu bar) to instantly go a topic or place.
It will be like you've been there before.
"The rocket guides are like no other cruising guide we have seen. The amount of information that is contained in these guides is truly remarkable. Having the Rocket Guides aboard when you cruise New Caledonia or Vanuatu will ensure that you get the most of the experience. It is like having your own personal tour guide aboard your boat!
John and Leanne Hembrow
S/V Songlines
"With two sailing seasons in New Caledonia and Vanuatu behind us we have found the Rocket Cruising Guides an invaluable, essential resource for information on cruising these fantastic islands. With stunning visual presentations and an instant, intuitive interface, we have been able to quickly find essential navigation information and comprehensive coverage of everything we needed to know to explore these waters. Highly Recommended!"
Forfar and Sally Petrie
S/V Squander
"I have been using the Rocket nautical guides for New Caledonia and Vanuatu for several years and they are the most complete, user friendly cruising guides I have ever seen. I have found them to be very accurate and there is more good information than I have found in any other cruising guides."
Greg Palmer
Captain 30m M/V Espiritu Santo
"We have used the Rocket cruising guide to Vanuatu for the past month and it is priceless. We took Mastika into Crab Bay on Malakula in the evening. We never would have attempted it without your guide. A yacht came in behind us and when he came over he said, 'I can't believe you could get a vessel this size in here.'"
Captain Carl Brandes
M/Y Masteka and M/Y Masteka2
"Having used the Rocket Guides for both Vanuatu and New Caledonia this season we consider the Rocket Guides a "must have" for all skippers cruising these waters. The route and anchorage data is extremely accurate and the information re local services, walks and snorkelling is invaluable."
Murray and Carol Clarke
14.6m S/V JAMS
The Cruising Guides to New Caledonia and Vanuatu have in depth information displayed in an easy to use and intuitive manner. The electronic format allows the user to "drill down" from an overall view to more and more information, unlike paper guides this allows the user to stay in touch with where they are relative to the big picture. If you're cruising Vanuatu and New Caledonia these Cruising Guides are a must have. We use and highly recommend them to captains in our Island Cruising Regattas. They are worth every cent!
John Martin
Director - Island Cruising Regattas Ltd.
Island Cruising Assoc.
islandcruising.org
"The Rocket cruising guides for New Caledonia and Vanuatu are unlike any other guides I have used. They are very quick & easy to navigate around. They are full of all the usual information that a guide has but with added bonuses of Aerial pictures of the anchorages, Underwater shots of the marine life at that location, 360 degree images of the area that you are visiting and lists of "things to do" when you get there- you know exactly what to expect when you arrive safely at your destination. I highly recommend these guides."
Captain Nick Baldwin
34.7m S/V BEAGLE V
Frederique and Richard Chesher have been cruising New Caledonia and Vanuatu since 1980 aboard their Kelly Peterson 44 cutter, the Moira. Our love for these islands inspired us to create the Rocket Guides—to help you discover the beauty, culture, and adventure that make these tropical islands so special.
Richard is a Ph.D. Marine Scientist specializing in coral reef ecology and sustainable development. Part of his research work included conducting workshops at the University of the South Pacific, where he taught lands and survey personnel of the Pacific Islands how to do resource mapping using aerial and space photography. Frederique is a professional photographer and artist, whose talents bring the vibrant culture and landscapes of the South Pacific to life.
The 2024 Rocket Nautical and Travel Guides are the culmination of 24 years of continuous development. Except for the NASA space images and high-resolution aerial survey images, Frederique and Richard took almost every photograph in the Cruising and Travel Guides. They personally conducted complete hydrographic surveys of all anchorages, and the GPS routes featured in the guides are based on their own sailing tracks.
The Moira is never in a marina, as Frederique and Richard continue to live the cruising lifestyle, updating the guides with new images and information at least three times a year to ensure you have the latest, most accurate information for your adventures in New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Their goal is simple: to help you explore with confidence, to experience the wonders of the South Pacific, and to create unforgettable memories along the way.
Vanuatu and New Caledonia are only a day's sail apart and offer completely different cruising experiences.
If you go to one, you really are going to want to go to both.
Order your guides now and start planning your voyage to New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Mobirise