The first image, that comes to your mind when you think of an atoll, is a coral island or a collection of coral islands – Islands with white sandy beaches and dotted picturesquely with palm trees and a beautiful assortment of colorful coral reefs surrounding a lagoon.

The coral reefs, like the barrier reefs found on the Australian shore side or the fringing reefs found along the coast of Florida, are different from the atolls. What differentiates atolls from the coral reefs is the fact that they do not border anything. Atolls are founded on a coral base and often rise up thousands of meters from the Ocean bed. Many lush, tropical islands are based on the larger, individual reefs.