British Indian Ocean Territory

Remote Indian Ocean territory of the Chagos Archipelago, centred administratively on Diego Garcia.

The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is a remote archipelago in the central Indian Ocean, about 1,600 kilometres south of India. It consists of the Chagos Archipelago — around 55 islands spread across six atolls — covering a vast area of ocean. The total land area is tiny, around 60 square kilometres, but the territory oversees one of the world's largest marine protected areas.

The only inhabited island is Diego Garcia, home to a major joint US-UK military installation. The base has been strategically important since it was established in the 1970s, providing a deep-water anchorage and long airstrip within range of the Middle East, South Asia, and East Africa. Access to Diego Garcia is strictly controlled: only military personnel, civilian contractors, and a small number of authorized workers may live or work there. There are no tourist facilities and no civilian public access.

The human history of the archipelago carries a painful legacy. The Chagossian people, whose ancestors had lived on the islands for generations, were forcibly displaced between 1968 and 1973 to make way for the military base, primarily to Mauritius and the Seychelles. Their right of return has been the subject of ongoing legal and diplomatic dispute for decades.

Yachters and divers occasionally visit the outer uninhabited atolls of the Chagos — Peros Banhos, Salomon, and Egmont — under permit. The reefs are among the most pristine in the Indian Ocean, largely untouched since the removal of the resident population.

Guide

Getting There

The only way to get onto the island of Diego Garcia is to be hired to work on the island or to get PCS orders to the island. Most of the time if coming from the United States, you be taking the Pacific Ocean Route. Sometimes you can get an East Coast Route but most of the time it is the Pacific Route. The East Coast Route takes about 21 hours of flight time minus any layovers.

Contributors September 19, 2006

Guide

Practical Information

Chagos Archipelago is the main Island group.Diego Garcia is the only inhabited Island. Military and cilivian contractors are the only people allowed on Diego Garcia.Boaters from around the world visit the other Islands.

Guide

When to Go

The British Indian Ocean Territory consists of the Chagos Archipelago, dominated by the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia. There is no civilian tourism: the territory has been closed to the original Chagossian population since their forced removal in the 1960s/70s, and the only authorised visitors are military personnel, contractors, and the rare permitted sailor or researcher.

The climate is tropical maritime, hot and humid year-round. Temperatures sit between 25°C and 32°C; sea temperatures stay around 28°C.

Drier season (May–October) is the better window, with the southeast trade winds blowing steadily and lower rainfall.

Wet season (November–April) brings heavier rains. The Chagos sits well south of the main Indian Ocean cyclone belt, so direct hits are unlikely, but heavy weather is not.

Yacht permits to anchor in the lagoons of the outer atolls have historically been issued on a limited basis to vessels in transit; check the current status with the BIOT Administration in London before planning anything. Diego Garcia itself remains closed to all visitors who are not military or military-affiliated.

The Chagossians' decades-long legal effort to return to their islands is the defining political question for the territory.