Christmas Island is a travel destination in Australia and New Zealand. Its capital is Flying Fish Cove. September and August are its two best months to visit, ranked on 1991–2020 climate averages.
Top places to visit in Christmas Island
Christmas Island Red Crab Migration (natural) — One of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles — 50–120 million brilliant-red land crabs emerge from the rainforest each October–November and march to the sea in a scarlet carpet visible from the air; roads are closed, bridges erected, and the entire island mobilises to protect the crabs.
Christmas Island National Park (natural) — Covers two-thirds of the island — intact tropical rainforest sheltering 12 endemic animals including the Abbott's booby (nests nowhere else on Earth), the Christmas Island frigatebird, and the rare Christmas Island hawk-owl; excellent birding and forest walking.
Flying Fish Cove (city) — The island's only town and main harbour — colourful shophouses, a Chinese temple, a Malay mosque, and a Sikh temple reflect the cultural mix of workers brought by the British phosphate industry; the flying fish that leap through the bay at dusk are a spectacle in themselves.
Dolly Beach (natural) — Remote wild beach on the island's south coast — accessed by a rough track; one of the best places on Earth to watch red land crabs completing their migration, swimming in the clear blue sea, and releasing eggs; green turtles also nest here.
The Dales (Rainforest Walk) (natural) — Series of freshwater streams cutting through intact lowland rainforest to the coast — Christmas Island doves, blue-tailed flying foxes, and dense ferns line the boardwalk trails; at the creek mouth the forest transitions directly to a wave-washed rocky shore.
Blowholes (East Coast) (natural) — Dramatic sea caves and blowhole formations on the rough east coast — compressed swell forces geysers of spray 10–15 m through coral limestone fissures; impressive in any swell, spectacular during cyclone-generated swells from the Indian Ocean.
Ethel Beach (natural) — Sheltered cove on the quieter northwest coast — calm clear snorkelling water, a healthy coral garden at 5–10 m depth, and the occasional whale shark or manta ray drifting in from the deep water offshore; very rarely visited by tourists.
Christmas Island Golf Club (landmark) — Nine-hole golf course in the jungle — red crabs crossing the fairways, frigatebirds circling overhead, and roosting Abbott's boobies in the surrounding trees combine to make this arguably the world's most surreal and ecologically distinctive game of golf.
Margaret Knoll Lookout (natural) — Highest accessible point on the island at 361 m — sweeping views across the rainforest canopy to the ocean on three sides; the vantage point is exceptional for spotting frigatebird thermal columns and for photography during the red crab migration.
Phosphate Mining History (landmark) — Abandoned phosphate processing equipment and open-cut mining terraces from the 1890s–1987 operation that shaped the island's economy and demography — the derelict industrial landscape within the national park creates a compelling juxtaposition of industry and wilderness.