Christmas Island 2025
Join J. Michelle Swope for another incredible United Women on the Fly (UWOTF) adventure to Christmas Island! This special trip, hosted in collaboration with Oly Women on the Fly and Fly Water Travel, is designed for women anglers and will take place in March 2025. Don’t miss this unforgettable experience!
Location
Christmas Island Outfitters, Located in the South Pacific, equidistant between Hawaii and New Zealand, sits Kiritimati Island.
Dates
March 11th – 18th, 2025
Hosts
- J. Michelle Swope
- United Women on the Fly
Why Go on a UWOTF HOsted Trip?
These trips are so much more than a fishing adventure. Women of different ages, professions, backgrounds and fishing abilities come together to experience a trip of a lifetime. It’s a scary thing to step out of their comfort zone and join other women. The energy, laughter, smiles and friendships are like no other. We came as strangers and leave UNITED as fly sisters.
Contact Email
Email [email protected] for the Christmas Island UWOTF hosted trip.
CXI Location
The largest atoll in the world known to anglers as “Christmas Island.” Not to be confused with the Territory of Australia “Christmas Island,” Kiritimati is a remote and largely-undeveloped island that is part of a long island chain that makes up the country of Kiribati.
Hosted Trip Cost
- 7 night/6 day package: $3,150 Per person based on shared room/shared guide.
- 7 night/6 day package: $3,550 Per person based on shared room/private guide.
A 50% Deposit is due at registration to hold your spot.
What's Included
- All Ground/Water Transfers While on Christmas Island
- Daily Guided Fishing
- 6 Days Guided Fishing
- Seven Nights Double Occupancy Lodging at Christmas Island Outfitters’ (2 Anglers Per Room)
- Breakfast and Dinner at the Lodge
- Cooler Lunch on the Water with a Guide
- 4 Bottles of Water Per Day
Not Included
- CXI Departure Tax
- Flights in/out of Honolulu Hawaii.
- International Flights to and from Christmas Island/Kiritimati Island Cassidy International Airport (CXI)
- Accommodations, Taxis, Meals/Beverages and Activities while in Honolulu on 3/10/25
- Gratuities for Guides and Lodge Staff
- Alcoholic, Beer and Sodas (Spirits and Wines Can Be Purchased in the Honolulu at the Airport Duty Free)
- Christmas Island Fishing License
- Laundry Service
- Wireless Service
- Equipment and Terminal Tackle
Deposit
A 50% deposit and full payment a minimum of two months before the trip.
Cancellation Policy
All payments made to Fly Water Travel are forwarded to guides, lodges, and outfitters shortly after they are received. Once payments have been forwarded, they are subject to the cancellation policies of each individual guide, lodge, or outfitter and most have a strict “no refunds” cancellation policy, regardless of the circumstances, unless a replacement is found.
Trip and Evacuation insurance is highly recommended. Click HERE to purchase with UWOTF and Global Rescue.
Trip and Evecuation insurance
Travel and Evacuation Insurance is highly recommended. We are excited to partner with Global Rescue to offer each angler travel and evacuation insurance. Sign-up HERE.
Connect in the Facebook Group
We have created a Facebook Group specific for this hosted trip. Please utilize this group to ask questions and connect with other women who will be joining us on the hosted trip. This will be the location that the co-hosts will post additional event information to. Join Facebook Group HERE.
Travel
All women will fly into Honolulu the day before we all fly to Christmas Island (CXI) via Fiji Airways. Utilize the Facebook group to share lodging in Honolulu on 3/10/25.
Flights
Fly into Honolulu then take the Tuesday flight with Fiji Air to CXI. Flights to CXI only run 1x a week.
NOTE: The flight from Hawaii to CXI crosses the International Date Line. This means that we leave Honolulu at noon on a Tuesday 3/11/25, but land 3 hours later in CXI on Wednesday 3/12/25. Coming home, we leave CXI on Wednesday 3/19/25 morning, and we land in Honolulu on Tuesday, 3/18/25.
- Honolulu Flights
- Arrive to Honolulu no later than 3/10/25.
- Fly out of Honolulu on 3/18/25 early evening or later.
- You need at least 3 hours from when we land into HNL from CXI to go through customs before you fly home.
- FIJI AIRWAYS Flight –
- Departing Flight
- Departure Time from HNL at 12 pm on 3/11/25
- Arrive at CXI at 3:20 pm on 3/12/25
- Return Flight
- Departure Time from CXI at 7:35 am on 3/19/25
- Arrive at HNL at 10:40 am on 3/18/25
- Departing Flight
Lodging
Sleeping Accommodations – 2 anglers per air conditioned room. Each will have their own bed. Rooms are simple, clean and have air conditioning.
Meals
CXI is not known for its 5 star cuisine. Meals are a very basic and regularly comprise fresh seafood (snapper, tuna, wahoo, lobster, mantis shrimp), chicken, pork, rice, pasta and sometimes steak. Fresh vegetables and fruit are very hard to keep in supply.
Typical Day
A typical day begins with a 6:00 AM wake-up call, followed by a simple breakfast at 6:30 AM. Anglers depart for the flats at 7:00 AM and fish from approximately 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The day wraps up with a return to the lodge at 5:30 PM, an educational session, and dinner served at 7:00 PM.
Fishing Days
Thursday, 3/13/25 – Tuesday, 3/18/25 6 days guided fishing. Dates are different due to the international date zone.
Fishing Techniques
Walk and Wade with single hand fly rods fishing with streamers or crustacean patterns.
Guides
Each angler will have a 2:1 guide ratio. Private guides are available for an additional cost. Boat partners and guide assignments will rotate daily and will be announced each evening.
Fish Equipment
8 – 12 weight rods. You can get away with an 8 and 10wt. Floating lines and reels to match. Equipment is NOT included. Angler to bring rod, reels, lines, leader, tippet and flies.
Boats
Christmas Island Outfitters utilizes several very unique, locally-crafted, outrigger-style transfer boats. These boats are used to transfer anglers to the flats, where you then wade the shallows for bones, triggers, trevally, and other species. The boats are very reliable and offer anglers a fun and effective mode of transportation to and from various flats.
Walk and Wade Flats
Most of the flats are easy to wade, as the bottom consists of solid white sand. You will occasionally need to navigate some coral outcroppings, rock shelves, and deeper channels, but overall the wading is very easy. When using boats for transportation, boat drivers will pick you and your guide up at the end of your “wading lap,” which means that you will rarely need to make long walks back to the boat through waters that you have already fished.
Target Species
Bonefish, GT’s or triggerfish. Christmas Island is considered to be a bonefish angler’s paradise, and rightly so!
Bonefish are the main target species on Christmas Island, and they are found throughout the flats and shallow waters of the atoll. This is an excellent destination for beginner saltwater fly anglers due to the sheer numbers of bonefish that are available. The average bonefish throughout the ecosystem run two to three pounds in size.
Additional Information
We will switch boat partners and guides to ensure everyone gets to fish with different anglers. =) Assignments will be given each evening.
Education Opportunities
UWOTF is focusing on Education with all of our hosted trips. We will offer each woman a link to video casting drills to prepare for fishing saltwater. The afternoon we arrive to CXI, J. Michelle will help get everyone dialed with their gear, knots and help fine tune anyone’s casts if wanted. Each evening we’ll have nightly discussions about the day and what we can learn from everyone.
Questions
Email us at [email protected] with any questions.
Hosted Trip Disclaimer
This is a Drama Free Trip. We will be getting up EARLY on our fishing days. Saltwater Fishing can be difficult and it’s highly recommended to practice casting, both distance and accuracy, into the wind before the trip. There are several factors to a successful day of fishing. We cannot control the weather or fish behavior but we can control the amount of education and fun both United Women on the Fly and Deschutes Angler provides.
United Women on the Fly trips are about education, the experience, socializing and having FUN; catching fish is the cherry on top. Each angler will have their own bed in a shared room (unless single occupancy) with AC an en suite bathroom.
Remember – all guides are not created equal and you may prefer one over another. We will rotate all of the guides and assign your guide each evening. Christmas Island is not a trip for those who want 5 star lodging and meals. The rooms are clean and air conditioned and the food is good. We come to Christmas Island for the incredible fishing opportunities, you won’t regret this trip!!
Meet Your Host
J. Michelle Swope
J. Michelle Swope has been fishing since she can remember, and started fly fishing at 7 yrs old. An experienced angler, she grew up fishing for Steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula. This soon morphed into fishing for other species, including tuna and dorado off of Baja, bonefish and sailfish in the Yucatán, and sea-run cutthroat in her backyard of South Puget Sound. She has over 30 years guiding experience and will fish for anything, with anything. J. Michelle combines her innate sense of curiosity and adventure with her deep love of fish and the waters they inhabit. Any trip with her will include conversations and examples of conservation efforts happening to improve habitat of the fish and the cultures that support them. When not fishing, she is either teaching fishing, fly tying, or planning her next adventure.
