Nauru coastline

Nauru is a small volcanic outcrop that sticks up from the bed of the Pacific. The island itself is quite pleasant – indeed it was known as Pleasant Island before independence, although the colonial powers did their best to change that by taking most of the island away on ships as phosphate.

The flat volcanic reef stretches out for about 300 meters of shallow water, and then takes a sudden plunge of almost 1Km. Swimming in the shallows is tricky, as there are a lot of rough volcanic rocks, but going over the edge into deep water verges on suicide.  There are big waves as the swell hits the reef, there are treacherous rips and undercurrents, and getting back onto the reef is hard going. There just isn’t a safe and graceful way of getting back up onto it, and what usually happens is the waves throw you onto the rocks in a painful manner. The water is however warm, clear and the shallows are very safe.  Swim over the edge of the old volcano however and the sea drops sheer down and the tides pull you away from the island.  There isn't anywhere for a further 1000 km and hardly any shipping, so you will die. 

The island coastline is actually very nice. it lacks the beauty of a coral atoll, but has blue skies, palm trees, deep blue oceans and turquoise shallows. The only road runs around the coast, and is only 17km long and its pretty flat and very boring.

Above the flat coastal area the island rises vertically with cliff faces to a large plateau, covered in trees and dotted with huge holes where the phosphate was.