D'Arros Island

Map of D'Arros Island and neighboring St. Joseph Atoll

D'Arros Island is part of the Amirante Islands which are considered part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles.

The island is located only 2 km west of the northern part of St. Joseph Atoll, but it is a separate geographical unit, separated by 60 to 62 m deep water of a 1.1 km wide channel, which is deeper than much of the Amirantes Bank. It is an oval-shaped, flat coral sand cay, oriented northeast-southwest, 2.0 km long and 990 meters wide, and nowhere higher than 3 meters. The island stands on a detached patch reef similarly orientated, with maximum dimensions of 2.8 and 1.4 km. A shallow sand spit extends 0.8 km northeast from it. The island stands on the northern sector of the reef. There are drying reef flats 250 to 400 m wide on its south side, but only a narrow fringing reef about 75 m wide on its north side. The land area of the island occupies 1.5 km². Much of the island area is covered by vegetation. The tree tops reach a height of 27 m. The vegetation is dominated by coconut palms and Casuarina equisetifolia. In 1965, five Seychelles Fody Foudia sechellarum from Cousin Island were introduced to D'Arros and they have since increased to a population of a few hundred.^[1]

The island has a population of 85^[2]. There are several buildings on the island, with one large house for use of guests, who rent the island, and a number of smaller, permanently occupied houses are for the staff. A small area of the island is cultivated.

An unpaved airstrip 975 m long (ICAO code FSDA) bisects the island in the southwest. There are no regular flights but, occasionally, scheduled flights to nearby Desroches divert to D’Arros.

The island bears the name of the Baron d'Arros, Marine Commandant at Mauritius, then Île de France, from 1770 to 1771.

Formerly the property of prince Shahram Pahlavi Nia of Iran since 1975, the island has been bought in 1998 by an undisclosed owner since then confirmed to be French billionnaire Liliane Bettencourt (daughter of founder and main shareholder of L'Oreal).

References

1. ^ [1]

Coordinates: 5°24′S 53°18′E / 5.4°S 53.3°E / -5.4; 53.3