Northern Iceland
Coco IslandsDIVING AT THE COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS AND CHRISTMAS ISLAND by Andrew Falconer
With no possibility of a dive trip to Indonesia due to COVID-19, the Australian Indian Ocean territories of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island offered a tropical diving destination away from the winter weather of the South West of the state where I live. They are considered part of Western Australia, so you don’t leave the state, although currently you do need entry and exit permits, easily obtainable by WA residents. Located over 2,500 km from Perth, Virgin Australia flies two return flights per week (Tuesday to Xmas first and Friday to Cocos first), enabling both islands to be visited. Although relatively close to each other, they are very different:
Cocos being a classic low-lying coral atoll, consisting of 27 islands with white sand beaches and coconut trees.
Xmas being a single rocky limestone capped jungle covered plateau, with only a few beaches, phosphate mining, and lots of crabs and birds. Both islands have steep drop offs to the deep Indian Ocean floor below.
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Location of Cocos and Xmas islands |
Cocos (Keeling) islands |
I flew on Tuesday to Cocos via Xmas, and stayed only 3 nights (two days diving), as the accommodation was rather expensive, then from Cocos to Xmas on Friday staying a week (4 days diving and 2 days exploring with a 4WD) as the accommodation was much cheaper. Both dive operations on Cocos and Xmas were small, with only a few other divers, the way I like it.
COCOS ISLANDS DIVING
There is only one diving operation on the Cocos islands, run by long term resident Dieter (www.cocosdive.com) who runs a small but sturdy boat across the lagoon from West Island to a number of dive spots around Direction Island. There was a strong south east trade wind (20-25 knots) for the duration of my trip on both Cocos and Xmas islands. It was pretty wet going to and from the dive sites as a result, and the waterproof jackets that Dieter supplied were very handy. There were only a couple of other divers on the trips.
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Crossing the lagoon was a very wet experience |
Lunch break between dives was much calmer |
Both days were double dives, with a relaxing stop for lunch on Direction island, and on different spots around a similar area, visibility and corals were both very good, fish life mainly reef fish, apart from a turtle and shark, but the highlight was my first sighting of a dugong! Apparently, there is only one dugong in the Cocos, and he is not often seen, and even less close up as we were privileged to witness.
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Excellent corals and visibility |
My first ever dugong sighting! |
Overall, I enjoyed my short time diving on the Cocos islands before heading to Christmas Island.
CHRISTMAS ISLAND DIVING
iving on Christmas Island with Hama of Wet & Dry Adventures (www.divingchristmas.com) started off badly for me as my TG-5 camera and housing both flooded on my first dive, so no photos apart from one of a cave we dived taken from the internet. Because of the strong SE winds our dives were restricted to the coast west of Flying Fish Cove, which was sheltered by the island.
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Christmas Island with Flying Fish Cove |
View looking out from Thundercliff cave |
I dived on four of my six days on the island, all double dives from from the main settlement of Flying Fish Cove in a smallish RIB with only a couple or so other divers. Although a bit rough at times we didn’t get wet transiting to and from the dive sites. There was a general lack of pelagic fish, apart from a group of black GTs (giant trevally) and on one occasion couple with four dusky sharks. These all provided some entertainment when fed fish scraps from the surface in a bit of a feeding frenzy.
We did venture once to the east of Flying Fish Cove, on a slightly calmer day and were rewarded with an abundance of juvenile schooling reef fish. The coral I saw was different in that it was mostly hard bommies. We dived one wall, and two caves, both of which had air pockets inside.
On days not diving I hired a 4WD and explored the island, did some walks in the jungle at the Dales, went to the blowholes and several small beaches, together with sightings of red, blue and the huge robber crabs.
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A red crab, one of millions on the island |
Typical Xmas island coast with limestone cliffs |
In conclusion, diving both the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island, provided an interesting alternative in the absence of an Indonesian destination during these times of restrictive travel.
Costs:
Round trip airfare (Perth/Cocos/Xmas/Perth): $1170
Diving: Cocos $160/day, Xmas $185/day
Accommodation: Cocos $195/day, Xmas $65/day
Eating out: limited but possible on both islands
August/September 2020