Direction Island, one of the 27 islands that make up the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, is probably one of the most beautiful I have ever been to.
→ Check out the reel I made about Direction Island!
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands together make up an overseas territory of Australia, situated in the Indian Ocean. These remote islands may be small but they are fascinating. They are so remote that the next closest land is Indonesia, more than 1270km away.
On my mission to visit and share every country and territory in the world (a total standing at 269), I sometimes end up booking trips to visit some of the world's most remote places and undertaking serious bucket-list worthy adventures.
I spent six weeks backpacking around Australia back in 2019, one of my first solo adventures and my first on a one-way ticket. During my two years I would end up living down under, mostly based out of New Zealand, I also visited Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Samoa, scratching the surface of these fascinating island nations dotting great expanses of open ocean.
We are basing ourselves in Australia for a year, traveling around the country in a campervan. Given it's the biggest country in Oceania, it's also the perfect opportunity to visit some more of the many islands surrounding it across the Indian and South Pacific Oceans.
I've written a complete guide to visiting the Cocos (Keeling) Islands including where to stay, where to eat, how to get there, how to get around and all my recommendations for the best things to see and do.
COMING SOON → Check out my complete guide to visiting the Cocos (Keeling) Islands!
This blog post focuses on the day trip we did to Direction Island, one of my favourite days of our trip and home to arguably one of the world's most beautiful beaches:
Every single spot (and more) that I mention in all my blog posts about the Cocos (Keeling) Islands can be found in my Australia | Ultimate Map!
As the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are an overseas territory of Australia, I have included it there, along with the other two overseas territories, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island.
This is a digital map which opens straight in your Google Maps featuring hundreds of my favourite restaurants, campgrounds, accommodations, shops, photo spots, museums, beaches, lakes, animal spots, bridges, viewpoints, hikes and SO more in Australia, including its three external territories.
Each pin includes exact locations, images, detailed information and a link to my relevant blog post to read more.
COMING SOON → Buy the Australia | Ultimate Map!
For information on how to get to Cocos (Keeling) Islands, check out my complete guide to visiting the islands (coming soon!). Below I have outlined the specific information for reaching Direction Island:
By ferry: The only public way to reach Direction Island is by ferry from the two main islands, Home and West Island. The Direction Island ferry runs only twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays. Don't be late; it only runs once each day and they leave promptly! At the time of writing, a ticket cost AUD $5 roundtrip, payable in cash only once you board the ship.
Thursday schedule:
- 7:30am West Island to Home Island
- 8:00am Home Island to Direction Island
- 2:00pm Direction Island to Home Island
- 2:30pm Home Island to West Island
Saturday schedule:
- 9:00am Home Island to West Island
- 9:30am West Island to Direction Island
- 3:30pm Direction Island to West Island
- 4:00pm West Island to Home Island
By boat: If you have your own boat or access to one, you are welcome to take your own to Direction Island and moor it in the bay on any day of the week.
By guided tour: If you'd like a more personalized experience on Direction Island and want to also visit other islands of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (there are 27!), then you can also join a guided boat tour. Be sure to check which islands are included in each itinerary as they all visit different spots.
→ Book a guided tour around the islands of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.
You cannot fly to Direction Island as it is too small for an airstrip.
Leaving Home Island
The Direction Island ferry
Approaching Direction Island
The ferry approaching to pick us up at the end of the day
Direction Island from the top deck
Departing Direction Island from its small jetty
Direction Island is so small that there are no roads, permanent buildings or other infrastructure of any kind. Once you disembark the ferry at the small passenger jetty, a small dirt path leads across the island which takes less than ten minutes to cross from one end to the other.
A few small beach shelters have picnic tables under them, so take your pick and pitch up at one of them for the day from where you can access the beach.
I recommend wearing water shoes so you can easily get off the ferry and walk comfortably across the island and the beach.
Direction Island is so small that there are no roads, permanent buildings or other infrastructure of any kind. This also means there are no shops, supplies or sources of fresh water on the island, so make sure to pack everything you need for your island day trip. There are no trash bins either, so please remember to pick up all your rubbish and bring it back to either West or Home Island for disposal.
Here the things I recommend packing for a great day on Direction Island:
- snorkel
- fins
- swimsuit
- sunscreen
- water shoes
- a towel
- plenty of food and water
- bug spray, the mosquitos can be irritating
- your camera (we had a camera, GoPro and drone to capture our footage)
There are two main things to do on Direction Island: hang out on the beach and snorkel "the rip".
When we weren't snorkeling, we were sunbathing on the gorgeous beachfront and lounging in the shallow crystal clear waters. The beach on Direction Island is, in my opinion, the most beautiful beach in the world that I have been to so far.
Snorkeling "the rip" is such a special experience. At the far end of Direction Island, you clamber over the shells, stones and washed up coral on the beach (can be painful on the feet, we wore our fins already) and enter the ocean. Directly off the island you'll find a pristine underwater canyon with a strong current home to incredible, colourful corals, fish and reef shark. It was one of the most surreal snorkeling experiences of my life.
It can be quite tiring to swim across the rip and then constantly against the current so I only recommend this to strong swimmers with previous snorkeling experience. Fins are an absolute must.
→ Check out my reel of snorkeling "the rip" on Direction Island!
Snorkeling off Direction Island
You can see "the rip" here
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Hi! I’m Jana, a Dutch-German-British-Canadian with a dream of seeing every country in the world. I am a storyteller, photographer and adventurer passionate about documenting and sharing my travels.
