The Coral Sea is a southwestern arm of the Pacific Ocean, between Australia on the west and the Duff and New Hebrides islands on the east. New Guinea and the Solomon Islands lie to the north, and the sea merges with the Tasman Sea on the south. Torres Strait, which separates Australia from New Guinea, connects the Coral Sea with the Arafura Sea on the west.
There are many low-lying, barren coral atolls and reefs in the Coral Sea, but the only large island is New Caledonia. The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef in the world. The sea has two deep basins, the Coral Sea Basin and the New Hebrides Basin, which reaches a maximum depth of 20,000 feet.
