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Swallow Reef
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| Controlled by | Malaysia |
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. As with all of the Spratly Islands, the ownership of the island is disputed, but it is controlled by Malaysia and claimed by the People's Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), Philippines, and Vietnam.
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| Spratly Islands |
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| Confrontations |
| Islands by occupation |
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Occupied by China (PRC)
Occupied by Malaysia
Occupied by the Philippines
Occupied by Taiwan (ROC)
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The island serves primarily as Malaysia's claim to ownership of this section of the Spratly Islands, i.e., those closer to its land area. The Malaysian Navy has maintained an offshore security post called Uniform Station [1] 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 destructive fishing practices that occurred elsewhere in the region.
Located within the equatorial belt, Swallow Reef has an equatorial climate. It is closed to tourists from November to January each year because of heavy monsoon rains. Temperatures range from 24 to 32°C. Although an equatorial climate comes with fairly high humidity, there are cooling sea breezes.
Swallow Reef is a one hour flight north of Sabah's capital Kota Kinabalu. There is only one resort on the island and a stay there requires a return flight from Kota Kinabalu.