Christmas Island with an area of 135 km lies in the Indian Ocean approximately 2,600 km (1,615 miles) from Perth. Christmas Island is the exposed summit of an under-sea mountain of volcanic origin. It rises from ocean depths of some 500m and reaches a maximum altitude of 361m above sea level. Except for small pockets of beaches, most of its 80 km rugged coastline is surrounded by cliffs up to 20m high. The island was discovered in 1615 and first settled in 1888. It became Australian Territory in 1958. National Jet Systems offers flights from Perth. Flights depart from Perth International Airport and therefore some form of identification is needed.
There are more continuous kilometres of vertical drop off diving here than anywhere else in the world. Christmas Island is largely unexplored from a diver's perspective and divers can still dive spots never dived by anyone before. The underwater walls dropping hundreds of metres are home to huge gorgonian fans, moray eels and rare fish. You can also find huge maori wrasse, schools of pelagic fish such as tuna and wahoo, and even the majestic whale shark.
The shallow waters too have a great variety of coral species and colourful tropical reef fish making for interesting dives. There are also several close-to-shore shipwrecks.
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