Emily Bay

Emily Bay is Norfolk Island most popular beach, a wide crescent of pale sand shelving gently into water that ranges from turquoise near the shore to deep sapphire where the outer reef begins. The bay is sheltered by a natural coral reef that forms a lagoon calm enough for children and weak swimmers, yet rich enough in coral formations and tropical fish to reward committed snorkellers. The coral here is not the dense stands of the Great Barrier Reef but a patchwork of brain corals, staghorn colonies and giant clams that have grown in the shallow warmth of this corner of the Pacific since the last glacial maximum. On calm mornings the surface goes mirror-flat and you can see the bottom from the shore, every coral head and fish shadow thrown into crystalline relief. The beach is raked daily during peak season but otherwise left natural, and the Norfolk Island kestrels that nest in the headland cliffs drift overhead on the thermals without concern for the swimmers below.

The reef lagoon is accessible by several entry points along the beach, with the easiest near the car park at the bay southern end. Mask and snorkel hire is available from the shop beside the car park. The best coral is found along the left-hand side as you face the sea, where the reef crest drops away into deeper water and the coral formations are more varied. At low tide a section of reef near the northern rocks emerges briefly from the water, creating a natural platform for exploration before the tide returns. The bay is named after Emily, the daughter of a colonial official who visited in the early nineteenth century, though locals will tell you the name sticks as much for the emerald quality of the water as for any historical personage.

Behind the beach, the grassy headland is scattered with Norfolk Island pines and she-oaks that provide afternoon shade for picnickers. A sealed path runs the length of the beach and continues around the headland to the next beach, making a pleasant circuit of about forty minutes at walking pace. The path climbs gently to a viewpoint above Emily Bay where the full sweep of the bay and its reef can be appreciated from above, the interplay of colour from white sand through turquoise, cobalt and navy giving the bay an almost artificial vividness that photographs do not quite capture. Birdwatchers will find the headland productive for sightings of the Norfolk Island golden whistler, the pacific kingfisher, and the white-bellied sea eagle that nests in the sea cliffs nearby.

It is the safest and most accessible swimming beach on Norfolk Island, with a reef lagoon that is both child-friendly and biologically interesting.

The coral and fish life, while modest by tropical reef standards, are unusual for an island at this latitude and reward close inspection with a mask.

The setting — headland, pines, turquoise water and basalt cliffs — is one of the most photographed landscapes on the island.