The Dales is one of the Island's iconic sites and one of the few places with permanent flowing water and stunning wet areas, providing significant habitat for endemic blue crabs and impressive stands of Tahitian chestnut trees. The drive through the Dales leads through rainforest to a scenic and tranquil area, which has two walking trails starting from the Dales 4WD car park. The first trail is mostly a boardwalk, leading to Hugh's Dale Waterfall, about 1 kilometre each way from the car park. Signage along the trail offers information on the island's plants and animals. For the adventurous, the second trail leads on from Hugh's Dale for about 800 metres to Anderson's Dale, a small gorge with a stream that flows to the sea.

Christmas Island is one of the world's truly spectacular tropical seabird rookeries. It's not just the number and variety of seabirds or their magnificent splendour that make the island so remarkable, but also their sheer visibility. Around 80,000 seabirds nest here annually, with 23 breeding or resident species. Birds can be seen and heard everywhere on the island, at just about any time of the day. With just a little effort, birdwatchers can easily tick off a full list of residents in a busy week or a more relaxed fortnight. However, the elusive Christmas Island hawk owl keeps many coming back. More than 100 vagrant and migratory bird species have been recorded here, including eight breeding seabird species and one subspecies. The most numerous is the wide-ranging red-footed booby, which nests in colonies in trees in many parts of the coastal shore terraces. You may see the endangered Christmas Island frigatebird soaring above Settlement — it's the world's rarest frigatebird and nests only on the island. The golden form of the white-tailed tropic bird is an endemic subspecies unique to Christmas Island. Known locally as the golden bosun bird, this stunning bird is graceful in flight and has been adopted as the island's fauna emblem.

It’s hard to imagine a more visually tantalising place to photograph than Christmas Island. All around you are sights, colours, textures and landscapes you’ll want to capture, so bring nature to life through your lens. From soft, pastel sunrises to glorious sunsets, Christmas Island is bathed in ever-changing tropical light. Vivid colour is everywhere, from the crabs’ rich reds to the rainforest’s deep greens, to turquoise waters. Catch the robber crabs on film, zoom in on gentle orchids and twisting vines, and train your lens skywards to capture the elegance and freedom of rare birds in flight. Underwater photographers have a kaleidoscope of colours and shapes to shoot. On land, the imposing, inspiring and detailed architecture of temples and other built forms keeps the shutters clicking. Videos capture the sights and sounds of millions of scurrying red crabs, or the hauntingly musical call of the island’s thrush, and the stirring call to prayer from the mosque. Best spots for best shots: - Martin Point, for staggeringly beautiful sunsets and seabirds; - Blowholes capture the energy of the water on a rugged coastline; - Dolly Beach has impressively large robber crabs plus turtle tracks; - Hughes Dale Waterfall is an iconic island place for your unique shot; - Blowholes Road lets you get creative with a special tree along the road; - Greta Beach hosts nesting turtles all year round; - Island temples boast rich colours fused with wisps of incense smoke; - Tai Jin House invites you to capture the detail of this building and its gardens; - Flying Fish Cove is a must for underwater photography.