Tarawa

Kiritimati, also known as Christmas Island, is the main populated atoll in Kiribati's Line Islands and the largest coral atoll in the world by land area. Its main villages are Tabwakea, London, Banana and Poland, and the island sits in the UTC+14 time zone, making it one of the first inhabited places on Earth to begin each new day.

The island was named by James Cook when he arrived on Christmas Eve in 1777, and later saw guano mining, coconut plantations and British nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s. Today Kiritimati is better known as a vast wildlife sanctuary and a quiet, remote Pacific destination.

Much of the atoll is protected as the Kiritimati Wildlife Sanctuary, home to large seabird colonies including sooty terns and frigatebirds. Visitors come for birdwatching, the enormous lagoon, world-class bonefishing and fly fishing, and long, empty beaches far from mainstream tourism.

Daily life centres on fishing, copra, salt production and a small number of guesthouses, while Cassidy International Airport connects the island mainly through weekly flights from Tarawa and occasional charter services. Travellers should plan around limited flights, simple accommodation and basic services.

Kiritimati appeals to anglers, nature enthusiasts and independent travellers seeking a genuinely remote Pacific experience, while business travel is mostly linked to fisheries, conservation and infrastructure work.