Half an hour by canoe northeast of Betio lies what is left of Bikeman Island, a sandbar that was once a vegetated islet large enough for picnics and now appears only as a pale patch in the lagoon at low tide. It is regularly cited as one of the clearest local examples of sea-level rise affecting Kiribati, and a sobering counterpoint to the country's tourist literature.
Local boatmen from Betio can take you out. There is essentially nothing to see beyond a thin strip of bright sand and an enormous sky, but standing on a beach that used to be an island in the middle of the South Pacific is something most travellers do not soon forget.