Direction Island

The beach at Direction Island was named Australia’s best beach in 2018. I agree that it’s a superb beach, and better than any of the other beaches here. The island isn’t inhabited, although you can camp there. The ferry visits it on two days of the week, in the morning to drop people off, and at two or two thirty to bring them back. It has no water, but there are shelters dotted along the entire beach, barbecues, and several toilet blocks. The last shelter has two emergency surf boards, and there are emergency kits in some of the shelters. So it has everything. Even wifi.

It was raining this morning and it looked unpleasant, but this was the only day I could go.

When I arrived at the island, I took time to wander through the trail about the island. I was very taken by one of the signs, which showed the telegraph network just before the First World War. It isn’t complete, but illustrates the strategic position of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Direction island was where the communications hub was located. It was the site of Australia’s first naval battle. Germans landed and destroyed the hub in the First World War, while the Japanese destroyed it in the second. Cocos (Keeling) Islands were a major defence base in the Second World War with up to 2,800 defence personnel here (including at Direction Island). The ruins of the communications hub are on the other side of the island and are gradually being pounded into the ocean as that side of the island disappears.

Then I wandered to the last shelter on the island. Direction Island is famed for “the rip”. You enter the water at the end of the island, and the current takes you along past some really good coral and enormous schools of large fish. You end up a fair way into the lagoon, but it’s all coral, so you swim back on the other side and do it all again. The tide was perfect, and the experience was amazing. 

Up that end of the island you can also swim off the beach and see coral within a couple of metres of the beach. The other end doesn’t have any coral, and you can just swim on a nice beach.

On the way back we stopped at Home Island to take people who work there but live on West Island home for the night. You can see just how low the island is. It won’t take much extra water for Home Island to drown.

Then I went to find a sunset. As it was high tide, my first choice wasn’t available.