Classroom lesson · Anibare Bay · 🇳🇷 Nauru

Anibare Bay

Nauru's most beautiful beach, curving around a warm lagoon

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Anibare Bay is the most famous beach on the tiny island of Nauru, which sits in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It stretches in a long, gentle curve, with warm, clear water perfect for swimming and snorkelling. Because Nauru is so small — just 21 square kilometres — the whole island is never far from the sea.

Tell me more

Anibare Bay faces east, so the morning sun turns the water golden and the sand glows pale yellow. Nauruan children have played on this beach for generations, splashing in the shallows and watching colourful fish dart in and out of the coral just below the surface.

The bay is sheltered enough that the water stays calm most of the time. Parrotfish, angelfish, and sometimes green sea turtles swim along the reef nearby. The reef acts like a natural wall that keeps big ocean waves from crashing all the way in to shore.

On the beach you can find coconut palms leaning over the sand. Nauruan families often cook fresh fish right on the beach, and the smell of coconut and grilled fish drifts through the warm salty air. It is one of those places that feels like a postcard come to life.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Nauru is only 21 square kilometres — about the size of a small town. What would be good about living on a tiny island? What might be tricky?
  2. 02The coral reef acts like a wall protecting the beach. Can you think of other ways nature protects the things that live near it?
  3. 03If you could spend a day at Anibare Bay, what would you most want to do there?
Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a bird's-eye map of Nauru (use the outline online or on a globe). It is roughly oval — add Anibare Bay on the eastern coast, the coral reef just offshore, coconut palms, and the lagoon in the middle. Label the Pacific Ocean all around. Compare the size to your own town or school grounds.