Christmas Island

Aerial view of Christmas Island.

Christmas Island is a dot in the Indian Ocean, located 2600km north-west of Perth, Western Australia. Even though it is an Australian Territory, its closest neighbour is Java, 360km away.

If you love nature, you will love Christmas Island! 63% of it is national park containing species of flora & fauna found nowhere else in the world! Probably the most noticable local is the Red Crab with over 100 million of these vivid red creatures living on the forest floor.

Christmas Island has a unique population with a blend of Chinese, Malay & Caucasians from the Australian mainland. A visit here is a diverse cultural experience with numerous temples, festivals and a variety of cuisines.

There is a range of accommodation to suit your budget & each offers a personalised service that only comes with smaller operations, ensuring that your stay here will be an enjoyable & memorable experience.

If you are looking for somewhere different, unique, tropical and without hordes of other tourists around, Christmas Island may well be the perfect destination.

Photos and text courtesy of the Christmas Island Tourism Association.

In the Directory


Photos

Sunset at Christmas Island.
Brown Noddy - A common tropical seabird nesting on the seacliffs and shore terrace trees.
Women & men dressed in malay costume at the Christmas Island Street Parade-Arts Festival.

Underwater Recommendations

Christmas Island is surrounded by a narrow tropical reef which plunges into a bottomless abyss. The northern coast in particular boasts some of the most unspoiled corals in the world such as Acropora & plate corals which play host to a wide variety of small tropical species such as surgeon fish, wrasse, butterfly fish, gobies, anemones, eels and many others.

Whaleharks frequently visit this area any time between November and April.

Getting There

You can fly to Christmas Island from either Perth direct or through Cocos Islands as well as direct from Jakarta.
Obtaining a visa from most countries is now as easy as buying your ticket, your travel agent can assist you. For Australian immigration information, go to: www.immi.gov.au

In the Directory

directory

Shopfront

A Day in the Life of the Great Barrier ReefA Day in the Life of the Great Barrier Reef
Besides an in-depth illustrated ecology of the coral reef system by Dr. Carden Wallace, this book consists of a pictorial documentary that is actually captured over the course of One Day on the Great Barrier Reef. A special book at a very special price!
$AU

Articles

My National Geographic Diving DayMy National Geographic Diving Day
Ever felt like you were diving in the pages of a National Geographic magazine? Well that's how I felt last Sunday on Christmas Island ...
Seeing Red on Christmas IslandSeeing Red on Christmas Island
Most of my holidays revolve around diving, or a place where I can at least snorkel, and the colour dominating my thoughts is always blue. Christmas Island’s waters are certainly that, crystal clear and a strikingly deep cobalt blue. This time around though, a colour at the other end of the spectrum filled my every waking thought in the days leading up to my trip to the isolated island in the eastern Indian Ocean. All I could think about was RED......
Underwater Card 2