| Oeno Island - Pitcairn Islands |
Oeno Island or Holiday Island is a coral atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, part of the Pitcairn Islands overseas territory, located 143 km northwest of Pitcairn Island, at 23°55′26″S, 130°44′03″W. Oeno Island measures about 5 km in diameter, including the central lagoon, with a total area exceeding 20 km².
There are two larger and three smaller islets on the rim of the atoll. Their aggregate land area is only 0.69 km². Oeno Island serves as a private holiday site for the few residents of Pitcairn Island, who will travel there and stay for a couple of days.
The main island (Oeno), about 0.5 km² in area, has forest and scrub with pandanus and palm trees. It is located on the southwest rim of the atoll. There is a water tap installed on the island. The maximum elevation is less than 5 meters. Three smaller islets are to the south and west of the main island.
Sandy Island, the second largest islet, is an uninhabited and unvegetated strip of sand. It is on northern rim of the atoll, at 23°54′44″S, 130°43′37″W.
A bright strip of sand surrounds a pale blue lagoon and the remnants of a volcanic peak on Oeno Island. Sitting approximately 280 kilometers northwest of Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific, Oeno is a prime example of a tropical island in the middle stages of its development. |
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Like Pitcairn, Oeno started out as a rocky volcanic peak. Over time, coral colonized the submerged edge of the island, each generation building up and out from the last until a solid ring of coral, called a fringing reef, circled the island.
Sand made from the calcium-rich skeletons of coral and reef dwellers creates the brilliant white beaches seen along the outer edge of the fringing reef.
Eventually, the volcanic hotspot that fueled Oeno’s initial growth shifted, and the central rocky mass began to sink and erode, leaving a shallow, pale blue lagoon in its place.
A heavily eroded remnant of the island’s volcanic peak still rises above the surface in the southwest corner of the lagoon. When the center peak is entirely gone, only the reef will remain, and the island will become a coral atoll. |
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| Map of Oeno Island |
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