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The UNESCO World Heritage Convention of 1972 is often regarded as a success, and a place on the World Heritage List, with its now more than one thousand entries, has become a major global distinction, encouraging tourism, self-esteem, investments and conservation efforts. Charges of Eurocentrism in site selection have led to a greater emphasis on everyday heritage and long-distance cultural exchanges. The chapter analyses how this has affected World Heritage properties in and around the Indian Ocean and their official justifications for listing. Early inscriptions did not pay much attention to the ocean, whereas the ‘Global Strategy’of 1994 has clearly encouraged a greater emphasis on links, migration, and cultural fusion. World Heritage properties connected with slavery and indentured labour have made their debut too. However, not all candidate sites use the ocean to the degree they could, and the …