The Great Red Crab Migration

What:  The great red crab migra­tion of East­er Island is a spec­tac­u­lar migra­tion phe­nom­e­non in which tens of mil­lions of sees mil­lions of large red crabs emerge from the shade of the rain­for­est and head in uni­son to the ocean —  tra­vers­ing some 1400 metres across roads, rocks and util­is­ing spe­cial­ly designed ‘crab bridges’ to syn­chro­nise their move­ments- where for the next two weeks they will bur­row, defend their ter­ri­to­ry and mate, with the sight of the mil­lions of crabs, who are giv­en right of way across the island, being a noisy, colour­ful and spec­tac­u­lar view­ing.

When: The migra­tion begins at the begin­ning of the wet sea­son (usu­al­ly late Octo­ber) although the start date is depen­dent on both the moon and the mood of the crabs – for the exact dates to vis­it Christ­mas island it’s advised to vis­it [https://www.christmas.net.au/experiences/red-crab-migration/] where both the move­ment of the crabs and the moon are mon­i­tored.

Where: The migra­tion takes place on Australia’s Christ­mas Island, the Aus­tralian parks fed­er­a­tion rec­om­mends the view­ing points of Drum­site, Fly­ing Fish Cove, Ethel Beach and Gre­ta Beach for the best view­ing spots.

Dura­tion: The Crab migra­tion can last for up to 18 days – giv­ing plen­ty of view­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, although it’s advised to pick a sin­gle day in towards the start of the migra­tion for view­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties when there are like­ly to be more crabs head­ing to the beach to find a mate.

Tick­ets: The view­ing is free on Christ­mas Island – although you can expect prices for accom­mo­da­tion and flights to increase as you get clos­er to the rainy sea­son.

Need to Know: When the migra­tion begins, the Crabs are in charge – be sure to avoid get­ting in their way, stay clear of their bridges and don’t be shell­fish and try and grab them, poke them or pick them up (it’s been known to hap­pen.)

More Infor­ma­tion: For more infor­ma­tion on the route of the crabs and when the migra­tion is due to begin you can vis­it the Aus­tralian Christ­mas Island web­site which pro­vides spe­cif­ic data on poten­tial spawn­ing dates and also the rules around the migra­tion for humans: [https://www.christmas.net.au/experiences/red-crab-migration/.]