"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
you understand now why you came this way..."
CSN

Diego Garcia

"The Footprint of Freedom". "The Peak of Limuria". Known by these names (and a few others !), Diego Garcia is one of the most beautiful islands on Earth. Located in the middle of the Indian Ocean (appx 7 deg south of the Equator), Diego is the largest of a group of islands known as the Chagos Archipelago. It is a coral atoll, which forms a U-shape around a lagoon. Three channel islands guard the north end of the lagoon, which gives the island the overall shape of a footprint.

The island is a part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, and is currently home to about 5,000 Navy and Air Force members, in addition to a small British contingent, some merchant marines, and a civilian maintenance population. The British have taken their conservation of the island's natural resources very seriously, resulting in a place where the wildlife, both above and below the sea, have nothing to fear from man. It has incredible marine life, with over one hundred varieties of live coral, dolphins, rays, sharks, and two species of turtle (the green and the hawksbill) in abundance. The photo above captures the sense of isolation that can be found here, where on any given day, your footprints might well be the only ones on that particular stretch of beach. Below is a selection of photos--I originally resized them to fit on one page, but I think it does each one more justice to be viewed full-sized.

Pictures of Diego Garcia

Plantation House: Built in the 1800's, for the manager of the copra plantation which used to exist on the island
Plantation House Pier: The remains of the pier at the old plantation
Ruins: Remains of a building, now swallowed by the jungle
Jungle Path: The path leading to and from the old plantation
Stormy Lagoon: A look at a storm building over the lagoon
Channel Islands: The channel islands, as seen from the north end, ocean side
A picture-perfect sunset: Sunsets like this one are so common that they are unremarkable...
Other images: To get a good look at the color of the sea, and some of the life beneath it, look at the images from my Cocos Island page. The islands are almost identical.

Visit Diego Garcia in the Virtual World

Diego Garcia homepage:

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