cocos islands

[jamescottrell45]

anyone been there or no more about the place, was talking to a standup at work today and he couldnt stop raving about it

[doclach]

Hey James,
Hope you like lefts..haha. Haven’t been there, but have rustled up some bits and pieces which might help:

“Surfing Cocos rocks.

There is only really one place to surf which is a short bike ride out of town. There are other that are accessible by boat so you might need to befriend a local. Leave your board in the hut at the beach so you don't need to carry to the beach each day.

We were there in late July early August and there was surf everyday that was ridable. Size ranged from huge (stand up barrels) to only a couple of foot but always ridable. Personnally I would take something a bit bigger as the swell has plenty of grunt. I took a 6'9 but I weigh in around 95 kg as well.

Cocos is fantasic and you will have a ball. Buy an underwater housing for you camera before you go and get use to surfing and sail in the company of reef sharks. The sharks will freak you out first time in the water but you soon realise they are harmless.”

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Q: Can anyone tell me the best time of the year for a surf trip to the Cocos Islands? I don't want to be surrounded by 100 windsurfers and I want barrels...


A1: The windsurfers and kiters don't touch the surf spot other than to surf in the morning. Don't know when to go there for pure surf as I'm there for the wind

A2: Mid winter is the best time to go. Same time as the windsurfing. The swell is generated by storms in the Southern Ocean the same as Oz and Indo.

We when last year at the end of july start of Aug and the swell pumped the whole time. There is really only one break but given a crowd is 4 or more this is not a drama. The wind can be howling but it is offshore.

It costs a lot to fly and accommodation can be tight but booze is duty free and it is an amazing place. Just don't be scared of sharks as the share the break with heaps of reefies. When windsurfing you see small sharks all over the place.


A3: Flights are $2k, accom isn't too bad, food is Sydney prices, grog is cheep as chips (drank way too much there)

Kiting in the lagoon there are heeps of reefies 1-4 feet long everywhere (not sure what's in the deep pools in the middle of the lagoon but I'm betting something big). Saw a couple little ones swiming at trannies and there all over the break. Mike was running me over chasing one away from the grade A meat on my a$$ when I landed on one sleeping during a botched back roll (dont' think it was happy). The doogon is pretty cool and the manta rays are all over the place (one was buzzing us during our dive, what awsome creatures).

Word of caution, if your going there to surf and there's no swell there's not a lot to do other than get totaly enbriated with the locals.

A4: As the guy b4 said, the swell cranks on same timing as WA and offshore all day every day. have been lucky enough to go 6 times in my life. no dramas about saying this as compared to indo expensive and accom is hard to get and airline hates boards on planes so to anyone who actually goes there, good onya, there are some great waves and you'll be wishing that there was some one there to paddle out with most of the time, the left at the start of the point is a mind surf wave for most except pros. The Q station left can be quality and you'll only get 'crowds' after work and on weekends when the locals have a play (and a pet tiger shark). Direction Island and Home Island are magic, diving (see Deiter) is awesome, and get Geoff to play with you in his boat, buy JCR a beer, go to scout park beers, play cricket. I surfed in indo for 2 years and had great waves everywhere, but something about this place...stuck in the middle of ****in' no where. love the locals, cheep boooze, awesome..go once before sealevel rise takes it away



Found a purdy piccy for ya too JC - that left:

[jamescottrell45]

thanks for putting the effort into getting that together doc much appreciated, will def put it on a mabye list on places to go this year

[caspian]

yeah, sounds like a place worth a visit. perhaps next year.