Getting to Christmas Island, Kiribati

I'm researching a trip to Christmas Island to do a self sufficient fishing trip. I'm wondering how to go about looking at flight schedules to get there. I've heard there are flights out of Honolulu (I'm on the west coast of the US) with Air Pacific but there website says that flights are canceled to Christmas Island because of an unsafe runway. Are there any other conveinent options to getting there?

Also is it feasible to just show up on my own, find a hotel and maybe a fishing guide for a few days. All the info I can find is about package trips. I'm sure I'll be ok but info from somebody who has done it would be helpful.

Thank you much

The only way currently to Kiritimati (Christmas Island) is a weekly charter flight from Honolulu. Contact airkiribatihon@aol.com Bill Paupe. The aircraft is smaller than the Air Pacific one and the pilots are obviously willing to land on the runway.

As for fishing there, all of the 'hotels' have fishing guides associated with them and there are a few independent ones. Fishing on your own however might be quite expensive largely due to transport costs. Moana Kofe is a highly regarded independent fishing guide. In Kiritimati be prepared for basic accommodation and transport - there are no luxuries there! It is probably better to organise things in advance if you can, as communication in Christmas isn't the easiest and can be time consuming but it is not impossible to turn up and try and organise things. The I-Kiribati generally try and help out wherever possible. When considering where to stay in Kiritimati take into account where it is located in relation to the fishing areas. The main government run hotel is near the airport but a good drive from the wharf and truck journey to the other fishing points.

tourismxmas@tskl.net.ki is the email for the tourism official in Kiritimati - he should be able to advise or organise things for you. You should be able to contact most hotels directly - be aware that communications are not necessarily up and running all the time and a response may take some time.

Good luck!