DESROCHES ISLAND DEVELOPMENT LTD

Desroches is the largest island in the Amirantes (394 hectares) and the closest to the granitic islands, lying 230 kilometres southwest of Victoria. It is a sand cay on the western edge of a submerged atoll about 20 kilometres in diameter. The island is just over 5 kilometres long but only 330 metres wide at its narrowest point. A channel northwest of the island is about 1.6 kilometres wide and 18 metres deep, allowing even cruiseships to enter the calm waters of the lagoon, within which there is little variation in the depth at around 25 metres. It was named in the late 18th century in honour of François Julien Desroches, administrator of Ile de France (now Mauritius). On English charts it was called Wood Island, because of the extensive native forest.