Peros Banhos

Peros Banhos is the largest atoll of the northern Chagos, a ring of some thirty coral islets around a lagoon wide enough to lose sight of the far side. Île du Coin was its main plantation settlement, and the manager's house, the chapel, the copra driers and the rail tracks of the estate still stand among the palms, left for decades after the islanders were removed, and a few Chagossians have since returned to live there. The eastern islets form a strict nature reserve for nesting seabirds that no boat may approach. The reefs are among the healthiest in the Indian Ocean. Yachts once stopped here under permit, and access now depends on the territory's rules.