Things to Do in Kiribati in July

Kiritimati, the world's largest coral atoll by land area, holds what is arguably the premier bonefishing destination on earth. July's trade-wind season is when the fishing is at its most rewarding. The lagoon system stretches across more than 320 sq km (124 sq miles) of shallow flats where bonefish cruise in schools of dozens over sand so white it hurts to look at without polarized lenses. You wade knee-deep in water warm enough to feel like bathwater, the wind steady on your casting arm, scanning for the nervous shimmer of tailing fish against the glare. The trade winds in July keep surface chop just right, making the fish less spooky than in the calm wet-season months. Sessions typically run from early morning through midday, with guides poling shallow skiffs across the flats to reach distant feeding grounds. July's lower humidity means you can fish longer without the draining fatigue that the wet season imposes. Expect to cast to dozens of fish per day. Bring your own rigged rods if you are particular about tackle, as gear available locally is limited and well-worn.

The 1943 Battle of Tarawa was one of the bloodiest engagements in the Pacific War. The relics of that three-day assault remain scattered across Betio islet at the southwest tip of South Tarawa atoll. Rusted Japanese coastal defense guns still point out to sea from concrete bunkers half-swallowed by coconut roots. Sherman tanks sit where they bogged down in the shallows, their hulls barnacled and salt-pitted, the turrets frozen at the angle of their last firing. A Japanese command bunker, its reinforced concrete walls over a metre (3.3 ft) thick, stands largely intact and cool inside even in July's heat, smelling of damp concrete and coral dust. Walking the seawall where Marines landed under withering fire is a sobering experience made more immediate by how small the islet is, barely 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long. The humidity and steady wind off the lagoon are constant companions as you move between sites. The whole circuit can be walked in a morning. July's drier conditions make the unpaved paths between sites more navigable than in the wet season.

The reef systems fringing Kiribati's atolls drop from ankle-deep coral gardens into deep blue water within a few metres, and July's calmer seas and improved visibility make this the most reliable month for reef exploration outside of the August-to-October window. On South Tarawa's ocean side, the reef flat extends 50 to 100 metres (165 to 330 ft) from shore before the edge plunges away. The transition zone is where the action concentrates. Blacktip reef sharks patrol the drop-off. Giant trevally hunt in the increase channels. The coral itself, largely unbleached in the less-visited atolls, grows in formations dense enough to block the current. The water temperature in July sits around 28°C (82°F), warm enough that a rash guard is all you need for thermal comfort, though it doubles as essential sun protection given the equatorial intensity. Snorkeling is best in the first two hours after high tide, when visibility peaks and current across the flat is manageable. Bring your own mask and fins. Rental gear on the atolls is scarce and poorly maintained.

The maneaba, or traditional meeting house, is the social and spiritual centre of I-Kiribati life, and July's Independence Day celebrations open doors to cultural experiences that are otherwise difficult for outsiders to access. These open-sided structures, built from coconut timber and pandanus thatch, can seat an entire village community on woven mats arranged according to a strict spatial hierarchy that has governed island governance for centuries. During the Independence festivities on South Tarawa, competitive dance groups from across the Gilbert Islands perform te buki and te kaimatoa, dance forms where dozens of performers move in synchronised patterns, their voices rising in chants that carry across the lagoon in the evening air. The smell of coconut oil used to dress dancers' skin mixes with the smoke from earth ovens preparing communal feasts of reef fish, breadfruit, and babai, a taro-like root crop cultivated in pits dug into the atoll's thin soil. Sit cross-legged on pandanus mats in a maneaba during a performance. Feel the vibration of stamping feet through the coral-gravel floor. This is one of those travel experiences that resists description because it operates on senses that words handle poorly.

Kiritimati hosts one of the most significant tropical seabird colonies in the Pacific, and July falls during the nesting season for several species that crowd the atoll's uninhabited interior in numbers that defy the island's otherwise sparse appearance. The drive or walk from the main settlement area to colony sites like the interior lagoon margins takes you through scrubby coastal vegetation where red-footed boobies nest at eye level in low shrubs, utterly unbothered by your presence, their chicks a comical ball of white down with oversized feet. Great frigatebirds wheel overhead with two-metre (6.6 ft) wingspans, their inflated red throat pouches visible from hundreds of metres during courtship displays. The sound is a layered cacophony of clicks, squawks, and the rushing wingbeats of thousands of birds lifting off the ground simultaneously when a shadow passes. The air smells of guano and salt. The ground underfoot is loose coral rubble that crunches with every step. July's drier conditions make access to interior colony sites more practical than in the wetter months, when tracks turn to muddy coral slurry.