Kiribati is roughly separated in the Gilbert Islands, Line Islands (with Kiritimati or Christmas Island) and the Phoenix Islands Group with Kanton Island and the famous Phoenix Island Marine Protected Area. Kiribati consists of 33 coral islands, all atolls with the exception of the limestone island Banaba (Gilbert Islands), covering an area of more than 2000 miles from north to south and over 1000 miles from west to east. Tarawa Atoll with the islet Bairiki, a very nice coral island in the Gilbert Islands, serves as the administrative capital of Kiribati. Here, wandering around Betio islet and nearby Butartari Atoll you can still find WWII relics as walking around a live museum. Caroline was renamed Millennium Island when it became the first island to reach the millennium in 2000 after government decisions to create time zones without a day apart. Many of the islands are inhabited, ringed by a wicked barrier reef, creating calm healthy picturesque lagoons with some of the best fishing and snorkeling on the planet.

Christmas Island, with capital London Village, is considered the largest and oldest coral atoll in the world. It is 45 miles long and 25 miles wide at its widest point, named by Captain James Cook in 1777. Christmas Island was uninhabited until the 50s when the British used the island for one of their hydrogen bomb test. There are quite a few travelers who fly to Christmas Island from Fiji for just a full day snorkeling or diving adventure. Other highlights on the Kiribati's are deep sea fishing tours, bird watching trips and historic tours to the remains of World War II battles.

Kiribati is known as one of the last destinations with bright colored tropical fish, healthy crowded reefs, dramatic drop-offs and bright warm blue colored waters. On top of this, most of the year, its calm and flat water conditions and mild currents, create some of the best coral ecosystems in Micronesia. Diving is often started after a back roll from a 38-ft outrigger canoe, an experience in itself. Poland Village's Christmas Corner, Poland Point, the Cook Island Passage, Paris Point, Korean Wreck and Eel Gardens are some of the more popular dive sites near Christmas Island. You will spot spinner dolphins, dragon moray eels, eagle and manta rays, whale sharks, rainbow runners, tuna, bottlenose dolphins and much more. In fact it is one of these locations where new species are recorded from now and then.

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Kiribati is separated in the islands groups Gilbert, Line and Phoenix; and serves as one of the last diving frontiers in the world.

Take a look at some of the other dive destinations.