The Red Crab Migration

Christmas Island, a remote Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, is home to one of the most spectacular wildlife events on the planet: the annual migration of its red crabs. Each year, at the start of the wet season, tens of millions of bright scarlet land crabs emerge from the island's rainforest and march in an overwhelming living tide down to the sea to breed, carpeting roads, gardens and cliffs in a surging carpet of red that can stop traffic and takes over the whole island. Guided by the moon, the females release their eggs into the ocean, and weeks later, if the timing is right, millions of tiny baby crabs return in a second red wave. Protected within a national park and famously described by naturalists as a global wonder, this astonishing spectacle is utterly unforgettable.

What you actually see

• The crab migration - the tens of millions of marching red crabs.
• The living red tide - the crabs carpeting roads and cliffs.
• The spawning - the females releasing eggs into the sea.
• The baby crab return - the second red wave of tiny crabs.

When to go

October to December, the start of the wet season, is when the great migration takes place, timed to the moon and rains, with the exact dates varying each year; the return of the baby crabs follows weeks later. Checking predicted migration timing before planning is well worth the effort for this natural spectacle.

Honest expectations

The migration's exact timing shifts each year with the moon and rains, so catching its peak takes planning and a little luck, and the island is remote and reached by limited flights. As one of the greatest wildlife wonders on earth, tens of millions of scarlet crabs surging across a whole island to the sea, though, the red crab migration is an utterly unforgettable and world-class spectacle.

Nearby

The rainforest, Flying Fish Cove and the island's coast lie around it.