Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The Cocos Islands lie about twenty-seven hundred kilometres northwest of Perth, two atolls of twenty-seven coral islands enclosing a shallow lagoon. Only two are inhabited: West Island, with the airstrip and a mostly Australian population, and Home Island, where the Cocos Malay community lives, descended from workers brought by the Clunies-Ross family who ran the islands as a private copra estate from the 1820s until the Australian government bought them out and a 1984 vote determined their future. Direction Island, reached by ferry, has a snorkelling channel known as the Rip where current carries swimmers past reef fish and sharks. Kitesurfing on the lagoon is exceptional.

History

Captain William Keeling of the East India Company found the islands in 1609 on his way home from the East Indies, and the Swedish captain Carl Gustaf Ekeberg sketched North Keeling in 1749. In 1825 the Scottish seaman John Clunies-Ross stopped briefly and planned to settle, returning two years later with his family to find the Englishman Alexander Hare already living there with a household of Malay women; a feud followed, and in time Hare's people left him and the Clunies-Ross family took over the islands. Britain annexed them in 1857, when Captain Stephen Grenville Fremantle of HMS Juno appointed the second Clunies-Ross as superintendent, and since 1955 they have been part of Australia (Wikipedia, Cocos - Keeling - Islands).

The landscape

• The lagoon - shallow turquoise water enclosed by coral islands.
• The Rip at Direction Island - a drift snorkel past reef and sharks.
• Home Island - the Cocos Malay community, mosque and cemetery.
• The kitesurfing - reliable trade winds over flat lagoon water.

When to go

April to October for the driest weather and reliable trade winds for kitesurfing; the wet season brings squalls. Flights operate a limited weekly schedule via Christmas Island and should be booked well ahead.

Good to know

Getting there is expensive and slow, with flights a few times a week and cancellations disruptive. Accommodation and food are limited and costly, with supplies arriving by ship. Home Island is a Muslim community and modest dress is expected.

Nearby

Christmas Island lies northeast; Perth is the mainland link.

Key facts