Things to Do in Nauru in October

October's outgoing tides pull baitfish past the reef edge just after sunrise. Locals gather at 5:30 am under the pandanus trees and will lend you a hand-line. You'll cast from jagged coral heads. The water is so clear you see your lure flutter 6 m (20 ft) down. By 7 am the UV hits 8. Fresh sashimi breakfast waits at the bay picnic tables.

The lagoon level is highest in October after September rains. The water stays coffee-amber from tannins but is cool enough (79°F/26°C) to rinse off salt after a morning snorkel. Grandmothers sit under the fig trees weaving 'ajou' fans from pandanus they harvested at first light. If you linger with a smile they'll hand you half-finished strips to try.

The ridge is only 65 m (213 ft) high but October's dry afternoons mean you can scramble the coral track in thongs (flip-flops) without the mud that turns up in December. Rusted Japanese AA guns point toward the sunset. From the top you see the entire 6 km (3.7 mile) island ring, phosphate pinn glowing white and the runway slicing across the width like a grey zipper.

October's low winds flatten the lagoon, so the reef table is safe to walk at low tide after dark. Local kids carry LED head-torches and know every crab burrow. Follow them (single file) and you'll spot orange-leg coconut crabs the size of one plates. Photograph only. Taking one carries an AUD 500 fine and village shame.

The road fronting the phosphate cantilever fills with three folding-table 'canteens' around 6 pm. One sells fried reef fish in lime-soy glaze, another ladles chicken curry over Nauruan rice, the third grills turkey tails over open coke-burners. October evenings are still enough that smoke hangs under the streetlight. You'll eat standing, plate in one hand, swatting moths with the other.