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Published: September 6th 2023
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Kiribati, some will say it is difficult to find a more remote place on the planet, but most will simply never have heard about this place!
Yes, this is an independent state, member of the United Nations since 1999! 117,000 inhabitants, with around 63,000 of them living on South Tarawa where I'm spending 3 nights/4 days.
To get here, most will come via the 3 hours flight, twice per week from Nadi in Fiji. You also have the Air Nauru shuttle doing Brisbane-Naura-Tarawa-Majuro-Pohnpei on Thursday and back on Friday.
Air Nauru also just started a once a week Naura-Tarawa-Kirimati. The inhabitants of Kiribati used to have to go via Fiji if they wanted to do the domestic travel from Tarawa to Kirimati! Not anymore, but the flight is a whooping 4 hours. Imagine, this is nearly like crossing Australia! All this for a country with less than 120k inhabitants! Let's hope this option will be viable for the airline as well as for the inhabitants of Kiribati!
Now this is an interesting one! Kirimati is also known as Christmas Island. Bear in mind, there are two Christmas Island, the other one being in Australia, North-East of Broome,
Western Australia. I once dived in Lembeh with a Japanese instructor on holidays who was based in Christmas island WA, running the only dive center there... He told me he received from time to time call from divers asking why he did not pick them at the airport. Simple answer, no flight today landing on this Christmas Island WA, you must be on the other one... Hours away obviously... And would take you days joining on to the other!
Back to South Tarawa. I'm picked up at the airport by the staff of Dreamers, the guesthouse/homestay where I'll be staying for three nights. My Air Nauru flight is only 2 hours delay, but I made it to Dreamers just on time for sun set and a nice dinner of fresh caught grilled fish and garden veggies! Here you do eat like the locals, and it's pretty nice!!
Early morning wake up, easy breakfast and I decided to go for a little walk... To the left I'm heading. I would end up walking 20kms all the way to and around Beito.
First impression... There are no tourists around here and people are super friendly. Next, everybody is sweeping
around his home, up to the only main road every morning. The island has too as solid issue with trash, but you do feel here that the locals are trying to limit the damages, at least right in front of their own doorstep!
That was a beautiful day walking around. Other good news, I'm diving tomorrow morning, meeting is organized at 8am in Beito and Atta from Dreamers will drop me there.
Next morning, I'm all excited when Atta drop me at the parish for my 8am meeting with two dives organized. Bear in mind, no dive center here too. I have my gears, but I need tanks, somebody to show me where to dive... and in South Tarawa, you need to dive Red Beach... So therefore you also need a boat!
Coming back to the dive day next, but before, a little slice of WWII history.
South Tarawa was occupied pretty late in 1942 by the Japanese. They murdered on arrival some 20 unarmed British who were there to keep the island. Than came November 1943 and the battle of South Tarawa. Solid battle won by the Americans, and a solid move for WWII.
The Americans sent 35,000 men... 1000 died, over 400 went missing. The Japanese had around 4,700 people on the Island including over 1,000 Korean forced labors. Of all those, only 17 Japanese were taken prisoners and 129 Koreans were freed. Everybody else on the island of Beito died! 72 hours of fierce battle. The Americans made the mistake of launching at low tide and they landing crafts ended being stranded in the corals. Red beach gets its name from the blood drawn into the battle that lasted 72 hours.
Today, the island is still full of fortifications put in place by the Japanese... and the waters of Red beach is home to many landing crafts, who never made it to the beach!
Back to the dive day.we had a meeting with the guy sorting out the boat and the tanks plus a guy who would show me around. We don't speak of PADI/SSI here... No release, no DMS or what ever. Well, meeting was at 8am at the local parish. But they messed up their timing, and I left to the boat only at 11.30am...and got on the boat at 12pm. Now bear in mind, these guys are
locals, there is at least 10 landing crafts around... Water is around 9 meters deep. Guess what, they couldn't find a single one! Had to go back to the island finding a guy who knew! End story... A 3.20pm we found our only landing craft... A tank since sitting on a landing craft... Everything just 8.4 meters down.
I did my dive! 36 minutes out at 8 meters! I guided my own dive in what is country 65th for diving for myself!
Back to land at 4.20pm, they wouldn't try a second one... Got a ride to Dreamers! Dived Kiribati with people who had no idea... But I was happy!
Next morning, next flight, this time on Fiji Airways... Ready for a more touristy place...
Next blog coming soon...
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New Year
Lovely blog. Is that the place that receives the new year in first place in the whole planet?