Christmas Island

Christmas Island

Oceania
LAST UPDATED 19/02/2010
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Level of surfing

Competent

Quality of surf

Good

Call code

61

Net code

cx

Area

135

Coastline

139 km

Climate

tropical with a wet season (Dec to April) and dry season; heat moderated by trade winds

Hazards

Difficult Access

Best Months

May - September

Population

1493

Currency

Australian Dollar (AUD) Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006)

Time Zone

GOLF (UTC+7)

Special Requirements

introduction

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CIA World Factbook 2002: Map of Christmas Island, 8 August 2003

Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is situated about 2600kms northwest of the Western  Australian and south of Indonesia. Christmas Island rises to a central plateau of stands of rainforest. Its 80 kilometre coastline is an almost continuous sea cliff up to 20 metres high, with a few shallow bays of small sand and coral shingle beaches. The largest of these forms the island's only port, Flying Fish Cove.

history

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Zantastik : Poon Saan, Christmas Island, Australia, 29 March 2006

The first attempt at exploring the island was in 1857 by the crew of the Amethyst. They tried to reach the summit of the island, but found the cliffs impassable. In 1887, Captain Maclear of HMS Flying Fish, having discovered an anchorage in a bay that he named Flying Fish Cove, landed a party and made a small but interesting collection of the flora and fauna. In the next year, Pelham Aldrich, on board HMS Egeria, visited it for ten days, accompanied by J. J. Lister, who gathered a larger biological and mineralogical collection.

Soon afterwards, a small settlement was established in Flying Fish Cove by G. Clunies Ross, the owner of the Keeling Islands (some 900 kilometres to the south west) to collect timber and supplies for the growing industry on Cocos.

At Australia's request, the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty to Australia; in 1957, the Australian government paid the government of Singapore £2.9 million in compensation, a figure based mainly on an estimated value of the phosphate forgone by Singapore.

The first Australian Official Representative arrived in 1958 and was replaced by an Administrator in 1968. Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands together are called the Australian Indian Ocean Territories and since 1997 share a single Administrator resident on Christmas Island.

surfing

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L-Bit: Coconut Crab, Christmas Island; 2005

Sitting mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the easterly tracking sub antartic storm cells South of Africa that peel up and supply most of the area with swell. Christmas Island is no exception. April to September is the best season for spots requiring SE to SW groundswell. Island groups in the region can create some swell shadowing but generally, the sheer frequency of the southerly swells will make those spots your better option. Rarer northerly swells that descend from the Arabian gulf from May to July can light up novelty spots and mysto treats but swell decay is a problem. 

Bear in mind that the southerly swells do need to 'bend' up quite a bit to feed this coast so not every system is going to yield results for you. Reliance on onshore winswells is a reality of surfing on the western side of the Indian Ocean. In betwwen the flat periods though, chances are you are going to have some serious fun in generally uncrowded waves. 

travel

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USFWS: Red-footed Booby on Palmyra Atoll, Pacific Ocean, 12 March 2005

Walk, ride, or hire of cars/4WD/SUV. You can hike around the settled areas of island, as most locals are happy to give a ride to visitors. The Christmas Island National Park covers 63% of the island. This means that for the visitor interested in flora and fauna there is a great deal to see. The same is true for the coastal waters where the marine life is equivalently spectacular.

Cocos Island is the closest land to Christmas island, there are weekly connecting flight between the two island. Cocos Island is approximately 1 hours flight from Christmas Island.

weather

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Muriel Gottrop: Brown booby, 31 July 2005

Climate is Christmas Island is quite uniform throughout most of the year. Temperatures vary slightly from month to month but the maximum is about 28 degrees celcius in APril with an average minimum of 22 degrees celcius in August.

Dry season is from June to November, characterised by long dry pperiods, southeast trade winds and occasional showers. Wet season falls between November and May. This is when the island comes under the influence of the Northwest monsoons.

where to stay

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Terence: Poon Saan, Christmas Island, Australia, 3 February 2006

Seven possibilities for accommodation exist on the island, five of which are in the main settlement. Of the other two, one is located next to the island's waterfall whilst the other is further out in an area called Poon Saan.

what to pack

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Rich Niewiroski Jr.: 62 mm ultra-violet, fluorescent, and polarizing lens filters. Camera used was a Canon 400D; April 9, 2007

Trainers, loose clothing - everything for the hot weather. Better take your medicines with you (esp. anti histamine tablets), as the brands can be unfamiliar and cost more.

Sunglasses and protective sun lotion, as well as a good repellent. All the gear if you plan to camp: a good sleeping bag and tent that are good for very low temp; special gas container u can use for heating food and water; a sturdy backpack or a cargo pack with a good daypack. Invest in a portable water filter or at least take some puri-tabs or boil the water.

Pretty much everything can be bought nowadays. But again, travelling to the remote areas, better to bring everything with you.

 

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