The intro
I have heard rumors of perfect waves breaking in crystal clear waters off the coast of Australia with little or no one out. So when some of my Aussie mates called me up taunting me to come along for a quick trip I could not resist.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are located in the middle of the Indian Ocean some 2750km northwest of Perth, Australia, and 900km west-southwest of Christmas Island.
The main atoll comprises of twenty-six islands encircling a horseshoe shaped lagoon. This is Australia's smallest and most remote National Park.
The Island sits right in the firing line of large Southwest swells that rise up from Antarctica, sending large waves of swell towards Australia and Indonesia.
Cocos experiences two main seasons which tend to overlap: the trade wind season from April / May to September / October and the calmer doldrums season from November through to April.
Information is the key !
With the swell expected to hit within 48 hours and still very little known about the reefs surrounding the Cocos area, we had to make a decision. Last minute decisions based on accurate weather forecasts are a common anomaly in my world, but the fact that we knew so little about the islands geography and surrounding reefs made the decision process even harder. Successful completion of a travel story drops dramatically once you start chasing large swells around the planet making it very stressful at times but also very rewarding if you score "all time" conditions.
I rang Scotty Mc Kercher, who had been down to the Cocos years before, to get some information on the place. His reply was; "Yeah mate, when ya get there, turn left and you'll find a place to crash and if ya turn right a walk a ways, you'll find the waves."
I forgot how candid Aussies were when it came to information and directions.
So, with basically nowhere to stay, sleep, eat, drive or tow we made the decision to just give it a go. We were breaking just about every rule in the book when it came to making an informed decision on a particular surf location.
The Island
The island reminds me of the hit TV show from the 1970's, Gilligan's island. Palms and thick vegetation cover the entire island with only one road running down the centre of the island. Apart from a few permanent Aussies that live and work there most of the Australians come over during the windy season to teach windsurf and kite surfing in the lagoon, a perfect spot for beginners. It's a real nice getaway if you want to just chill and relax. Sand crabs fill the island and an abundance of marine life fill the inner and outer reefs.
Upon our afternoon arrival we were greeted with welcome hands from the locals and it wasn't long before we had accommodation, a car and were well on our way to getting our hands on a Jet Ski that we had heard about through Scotty. It seemed everything was falling into place.
Or so we thought ...
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