While this tiny and atoll is uninhabited (not surprising being just 5 metres above sea level at its highest point), it is home to a marine park and is also an important breeding ground for seabirds and marine turtles in the Central Pacific.
The offshore waters of Manuae are excellent fishing grounds and being just 100km away from Aitutaki, are popular with game fishers. The atoll itself is made up of two horseshoe-shaped islets, Manuae and Te Au O Tu with a total area of 6 square kilometres on either side of a lagoon about 7 km x 4 km.
It's a true atoll, which sits on the peak of a submerged volcano which descends 4000 metres from the ocean bed. The lagoon is shallow and subject to large shifting sand banks.
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