Vaskess Bay Wall

Vaskess Bay on Kiritimati's northern coast is where the atoll's outer reef meets the open Pacific in the most dramatic fashion. A vertical coral wall begins at around 8 metres and descends past 50 metres, its face encrusted with enormous table corals, sea fans, and sponges in exceptional condition. Grey reef sharks circle the wall in groups of five to twenty, unhurried and close, while giant trevally and dogtooth tuna patrol the blue water just off the edge. Visibility regularly exceeds 40 metres during the trade wind season, allowing divers to see the full extent of the wall structure from top to bottom. Current here can run strongly on an outgoing tide and turns the site into an exhilarating drift along one of the most unspoiled reef walls in the Pacific.