On Christmas Day of 1643 the crew aboard the Royal Mary, a British East India Company vessel, was the first Europeans to lay eyes on what they named Christmas Island. The festively christened island is a non-self-governing territory of Australia, even though it is closer to Singapore. The majority of the population is Chinese-Australian or Malay, and the most common language is English. About two thirds of the island is a national park, mostly to preserve a massive population of sea birds and land crabs. The atoll is surrounded by rocky cliffs and tidal caves. There is only one proper inlet at Flying Fish Cove. This also happens to be the location of the capital of Christmas Island, also called Flying Fish Cove. Known locally as simply 'the Settlement' it was the only place that the British could safely access the island when they decided to colonise in 1888. They were after the large deposits of phosphate found on the island, thanks to a large population of seabirds who enjoy no natural predators. Nothing could be more Christmas-y than Christmas on Christmas Island.

The Annual Red Crab Migration

The most notable inhabitants of Christmas Island are the 14 species of land crabs. They spend most of the year burrowing in the rainforest and foraging for food. Their annual migration to the beach is considered to be one of the most unusual natural phenomena of the world. At the start of the wet season, approximately 100 million red crabs migrate to the beach for a massive orgy before the females release their egg clutches into the sea. They travel along lines that have been instinctively engrained, not stopping for anything in their path. To compensate for the effects of human settlement, roads and walls in their path are constructed over little tunnels for the crabs to pass through underneath.

Historical Walking Tracks

The Christmas Island National Park is managed by the Australian authorities. It comprises 63% of the total area of the island. This means that there are a lot of nature walks from easy to difficult. In the heart of a lush tropical rainforest are the Dales, which are numerous fresh water streams running parallel to each other. They form a delightful pocket of terraces and waterfalls that people love to cool off under. Lily Beach is so named after the waves swept a young woman into the sea there - pretty much the only danger in Christmas Island. Dolly Beach is an isolated strip of sand where endangered sea turtles lay their eggs. Camping is permitted in the area. There is the old naval base from WWII. You may even be able to get a tour guide to show you the site where the British tested the atomic bomb in the 1950s.

Scuba Diving in Coastal Caves

Christmas Island is a steep plateau surrounded by a narrow coral reef and covered in rainforest. Most of the coast is ringed by tall cliffs and colossal rock formations that make up at least 42 caves. If you are there at the right time you may see some 'blowholes' where air pressure forces a spectacular stream of seawater up through fissures in the limestone cliffs. Off the coast there is world class scuba diving among some of the most unspoiled coral reefs in the area. Whale sharks, hammerheads, dolphins, and schools of tropical fish can all be observed. Do not worry, there have never been any shark attacks recorded in the history of Christmas Island.

Plenty of Bird Watching

The flocks of abundant seabirds and the limestone rock that rose from the coral reef combined to make an enormous deposit of phosphate that is so highly sought after. It just so happens that the swarms of gulls that live on Christmas Island have no natural predators and a rich supply of food. They take advantage of the location by making it a traditional breeding ground. Approximately 80,000 seabirds and over 100 different species nest there each year. Some are endemic to the island, many are just stopping by to visit and others got completely lost during migration and decided to stay on Christmas Island - a biological phenomenon known as vagrancy.

Duty Free Drinks and Shopping

One of the best parts about visiting nearly any tropical island is the duty free drinks and shopping. There are not many shops and bars on Christmas Island, enough perhaps to fill a sheet of paper in a list. But duty and tax free beer and liquor is much less costly than it is on mainland Australia. Try Lucky Ho Restaurant or Season's Palace for some authentic Chinese island cuisine. Many of the locals are artist or craftsmen who sell gifts such as woven mats and baskets, as well as wood carvings. The biggest hotel is the Christmas Island Resort, which was originally conceived as a casino in 1993 before renovations.

 

 


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