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.

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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

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Articles

Goodbye Cocos. Hello Christmas Island!Goodbye Cocos. Hello Christmas Island!
We waved goodbye to the crew from Cocos (Keeling) Islands until our arms hurt. We were a bit sad to leave everybody behind, but also excited about what was going to come. After only an hour the plane started to descend again and we could see Christmas Island. It was very clear straight away that Christmas Island is geologically very different from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
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