Breathtaking Coral paradise of Australia- The Cocos Keeling Islands

The Cocos Keeling Islands are located 2,750 kilometers from Perth in Australia. They’re strategically positioned midway between Australia and Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. Their closest neighbor is Christmas Island, which is located 1,000 kilometers away. The Cocos Keeling Islands are also called Cocos Islands and Keeling Islands. There are two atolls and 27 coral islands in the group. Only two of the 27 islands are inhabited. See the Cocos island map.

The islands were discovered by Captain William Keeling in 1609 but were not inhabited until 1826 when Alexander Hare settled on the main atoll. In 1827, a former employee of Hare, John Clunies-Ross, settled on Home Island and brought Malays into harvest coconut crops. Today they are administered by Australia’s Department of Regional Australia, Local Government.

Geology of the Cocos-Keeling Islands

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands consist of two flat, low-lying coral atolls with an area of 14.2  km² and 2.6 km of coastline. The highest elevation of the island is 5 m and is thickly covered with coconut palms. North Keeling Island is an atoll consisting of just one C-shaped island, a nearly closed atoll ring with a small opening into the lagoon. The island measures 1.1 km² in land area and is uninhabited.

South Keeling Islands is an atoll consisting of twenty-six individual islets forming an incomplete atoll ring, with a total land area of 13.1 square kilometers, Only Home Island and West Island are populated. People from Home Island maintain weekends on the lagoon shore of South Island and on some of the smaller islands. There are no rivers or lakes on either atoll; freshwater resources are limited to rainwater accumulations in natural underground reservoirs. Cocos (Keeling) Island is located on almost exactly the opposite side of the globe as Cocos Island, Costa Rica

Cocos-Keeling Islands Tour

The Cocos-Keeling Islands is Australia’s most westerly tropical island. The Territory is a series of 27 coral islands formed into two large coral atolls situated in the Indian Ocean about 2750 Kilometres northwest of Perth. The islands have a total land area of 14 square Kilometres and a population of about 572 people (ABS 2006), mainly on Home Island and West Island.

The Cocos Keeling is one of the remaining pristine tropical island groups in the Indian Ocean with abundant wildlife like- Sea birds, land crabs, turtles, a range of flora, and a marine environment with a wide variety of corals, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and other species. The northern atoll consists of North Keeling Island and the marine area extending 1.5 kilometers. Around the Island Australia’s most remote Commonwealth National Park, formed that is known as ‘The Pulu Keeling National Park.

Also, Read- Spectacular coral reefs Island ‘Monuriki’ in Fiji Archipelago

Activities in Cocos and Keeling

Cocos and Keeling’s Islands are Australia’s most important and unspoiled paradise that lies in the azure waters of the Indian Ocean offering spectacular snorkeling, world-class diving, excellent fishing, and kite surfing. Relaxing on beaches, visiting uninhabited islands by canoe, Catching the ferry to Home Island to stay at the original Clunies-Ross residence, and enjoying the culture and traditions of the Cocos land are the best activities to do in Cocos island Australia.

How to Reach Cocos island Australia

There are many ways to travel to the Cocos Keeling Islands, including flying from Perth to Cocos Islands airport. Visitors can also use a private jet, or the more traditional way, sailing to Cocos.