Oceania : Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef is one of the Line Islands, in Micronesia. It is an unincorporated territory of the U.S., located to the northwest of Palmyra Atoll.
Understand
Kingman Reef is a barren coral atoll with deep interior lagoon. It is closed to the public.
The US annexed the reef in 1922. Its sheltered lagoon served as a way station for flying boats on Hawaii-to-American Samoa flights during the late 1930s. There are no terrestrial plants on the reef, which is frequently awash, but it does support abundant and diverse marine fauna and flora. In 2001, the waters surrounding the reef out to 12 NM around the reef were designated a US National Wildlife Refuge.
Get in
By plane
The lagoon was used as a halfway station between Hawaii and American Samoa by Pan American Airways for flying boats in 1937 and 1938.
By boat
There is no place to land a boat, and no harbor.
Buy
There is no economic activity on Kingman Reef.
Sleep
There are no accommodations of any kind on Kingman Reef.
Stay safe
Wet or awash most of the time, maximum elevation of about 1 meter makes Kingman Reef a maritime hazard
Get out
- Jarvis Island
- Palmyra Atoll - the nearest habitable destination
- Tabuaeran (Fanning Island) - the nearest permanently inhabited island; in Kiribati
This page was last edited at 10:28, on 19 November 2008 by Ian Sergeant. Based on work by Todd VerBeek, Wikitravel user(s) CIAWorldFactbook2002 and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.