418 Dive Log Australasia JUNE 2026.pdf

O ne of the best diving destinations in Australia is also one of the least known. Cocos Keeling Is lands is an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, seven hours flight from Perth in W.A. Cocos Delights by Ken Hoppen www.kenhoppenphotography.com.au

Direction Island is a picture perfect spot for lunch, to explore, or to go for a snorkel. The ferry drops you off and picks you up twice a week.

It is an atoll of many small islands, and a few larger ones, two of which are inhabited. Home island has the largest population, but the airport and most of the tourist facilities are on West Island. All of the islands are low lying sand islands, with beautiful beaches and azure water, palm trees reaching out into the sky, simply idyllic. Direction Island is one of the most pristine, beautiful islands in the world, and is well worth the trip over to walk the island and snorkel with the many small blacktip reef sharks that patrol the beach there. And don’t forget to play one of the most unique golf courses in the world on West Island and keep an eye out for planes as you do! (The course crosses the

runway!) Though it is the diving here that keeps bringing us back. Dieter is the owner and operator of Cocos Dive and has been operating around these islands for well over twenty years. His wealth of knowledge of diving, the underwater topography of this area, and of its marine life, are irreplaceable. This was my third dive trip to these islands, so the routine of the pickup and loading onto the boat at the wharf are now familiar, as were the some of the dive sites we went to during the week we had here. Leaving the wharf just in time before the interisland ferry came in, our first day was spent

A regular sighting on the reef is the steephead parrotfish.

A striking yellowhead parrotfish are very distinctive with their rounded head.

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Dive Log Australasia #418 April ’26

www.divelog.net.au