DIVING CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Christmas Island, the Indian Ocean one, not the Pacific, is one of the most unexpected destinations we've ever visited. Miles closer to Indonesia than any other country, it became part of Australia for purely practical reasons. Those reasons still stand but over recent decades those in the know have realised that this is one very unique island.

It's only 360 kilometres from Jakarta and visually looks far more like Asia than Australia. But like Australia, the island is crammed full of unique natural resources. Covered in dense rainforest, there are indigenous birds - the Christmas Island Frigate and the Abbotts Booby - indigenous trees, flowers and, perhaps the island's most famous residents, crabs. There are 18 different land crabs including the red crab whose mass migration makes the news annually.

Meanwhile, the marine realm is as bountiful as above, with several species rarely seen anywhere else and a few that are endemic. This is one of the few places in the world that you can see the spectacular dragon moray eel.

There are other features that make the diving so impressive: huge schools of tropical fish, interesting critters, fabulous cave systems that are shallow and safe for divers to explore - and 40 metre plus visibility. There are spinner dolphins and bronze whalers to snorkel with and if you go in the right season, there are whalesharks. But more than any of that, there's pristine reefs, hard corals that are incredible - the most perfect we have ever seen.