Horsburgh Island

Horsburgh, called Pulu Luar locally, sits on the northwest side of the atoll ring and has nobody living on it. Coconut was worked here in the plantation years and the palms are still standing in rows through the regrowth. Seabirds nest and the beaches on the ocean side collect a considerable quantity of plastic that drifts in on the Indian Ocean currents. The island sits at the northern corner of the ring, with the pass to the open sea beside it.

History

The island, Pulu Luar in Cocos Malay, is named after the British hydrographer James Horsburgh, who charted the Cocos Islands in the early 1800s, and like the rest of the atoll it was settled and run by the Clunies-Ross family; it covers about a square kilometre and lies within a marine protected area (Wikipedia, Horsburgh Island).

What you'll find

• The plantation palms - coconut still standing in rows through the regrowth.
• The empty island - a rim island with no population at all.
• The seabirds - the nesting on the undisturbed ground.
• The drift line - the material the ocean currents deposit on the windward shore.

When to go

April to October is drier with steadier conditions. Landings depend on the sea. The wet season brings heavier weather.

Practical notes

Access is by charter only and landings are not always possible. There are no facilities of any kind. The volume of drifted plastic on the ocean beaches is confronting.

Nearby

Direction Island is east, and West Island is south.

Key facts