Swallow Reef
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swallow Reef, known as Layang-Layang Island (Dusun for Place of Swallows) in Malaysia, Danwan Jiao (Chinese: 弹丸礁) in China, Celerio in the Philippines and Đá Hoa Lau in Vietnam, is an uninhabited oceanic atoll of the Spratly Islands situated approximately 300 km northwest of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Swallow Reef has a total land area of approximately 0.1 km².
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[edit] Location and status
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As with all of the Spratly Islands, the ownership of Swallow Reef is disputed, but it is controlled by Malaysia. The island serves primarily as Malaysia's claim to ownership of this section of the Spratly Islands, i.e. those which lie closer to its land area. The Malaysian Navy has had a naval base on Swallow Reef since 1983 and a Malaysian dive resort has operated on the island for a number of years.
Swallow Reef lies in 2,000 m of ocean and due partly to the depth, this atoll has become famous for sightings of large pelagic species and for wall diving. The naval base has also had an important indirect contribution to the quality of scuba diving in the area in that it has protected the island from the more destructive fishing practices witnessed elsewhere in the region.
[edit] Climate
Located within the equatorial belt, Swallow Reef has an equatorial climate. It is closed to tourists from November to January each year because of the heavy monsoon rains which fall on it. Temperatures range from 28 to 32°C. Although an equatorial climate comes with fairly high humidity, there are cooling sea breezes.
[edit] How to get there
Swallow Reef is a one hour flight north of Sabah's capital Kota Kinabalu. There is only one resort on the island and stay there requires a return flight from Kota Kinabalu.
[edit] External links
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