Unique and Spectacular Diving at Christmas Island
SOME OF THE BEST AND UNIQUE DIVING IN THE WORLD IS AT CHRISTMAS ISLAND JUST 490 MILES SOUTH OF JAKARTA.
Would you like to dive with the impressive whale sharks? Or see the unique annual delightful spectacle of the red crab migration? These you can do, along with much much more at Christmas Island, Australia that sits just south of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. Not as far as you may have thought, you can fly to Christmas Island from Perth (twice weekly), Jakarta (weekly) and from Kuala Lumpur (fortnightly).
REMARKABLE WONDERS
Discover and experience the remarkable surprises of this island full of natural wonders. While there are rare and unusual birds and glorious deserted beaches, a fascinating amalgam of cultures and history, perhaps what is most outstanding is its diving and snorkelling opportunities.
The most recent whale shark season was a bumper year, the best season in living memory. The season started in early November and there were daily sightings until the swell came in at the end of January. The remoteness of Christmas Island brings the benefits of a pristine climate and fewer travellers than more accessible destinations. There are three small scuba/ snorkelling vessels operating on the island, so whale shark encounters are very intimate. This past season all the divers dived and snorkelled with the whale sharks this year. With such conditions, there is little likely hood you will be disappointed.
GIANT TREVALLY
The GT Farm is another unique attraction to
Christmas Island that allows visitors to dive and snorkel with the enormous Giant Trevally. It’s an unwritten rule that no one fishes in the area as it creates an amazing experience for visitors and locals. The GT Farm isn’t a farm, it’s a place where over many years fisherman filleted their catch on the way home, so the GT’S know they’ll always get a feed there. There’s not much that is guaranteed in this life, but the presence of the GT’S at any time of day or night certainly is!
DROP OFF DIVING
Christmas Island boasts some of the best scuba diving trips in Australia and has some of the longest drop-offs in the world.
The island rises dramatically from the edge of the Java Trench, the Indian Ocean’s deepest point. This contributes to endless kilometres of spectacular drop-off diving with most walls being only 20m from the shoreline.
Scuba diving trips boast, along with the spectacular wall diving, untouched corals, hundreds of species of tropical fish, dolphins, warm clear water, the opportunity to see magnificent marine life – what more could you expect from the ultimate scuba diving trip and experience?
UNSPOILED CORAL
Christmas Island is surrounded by a narrow tropical reef which plunges into a bottomless abyss. This makes it the perfect destination for scuba diving trips! This reef is laced with unspoiled corals and abundant marine life. The northern coast boasts magnificent corals such as Acropora and 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 which are a photographer’s delight.
There is a good chance that you may encounter one of the larger locals. Pelagics, such as the rainbow runner, trevally, wahoo and tuna, cruise along the walls and the occasional shark comes up for a curious look.
SNORKELLING
With coral reefs surrounding the island, snorkelling is a must on every visit as the abundance of fish and coral is breath-taking – just a few metres from shore. Popular and accessible Flying Fish Cove is great for snorkelling and swimming.
When the waters are too rough at Flying Fish Cove, head over to Ethel Beach which may offer sheltered water and an equally dazzling array of fish and corals.
W: christmas.net.au