Indian Ocean

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

A tiny Australian atoll with warm clear lagoons, nesting turtles and Cocos Malay culture.

Green turtle, found in the waters of the wider region · Photo: James Thornton on Unsplash

Story only

Story only, for now. We love learning about this place and its ocean, so we share its story here and do not sell trips yet. Checked by Ocean Calling on 6 Oct 2026. Sources: Access, Pulu Keeling National Park, Parks Australia; Turtle tours, Cocos Keeling Islands tourism; Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park public consultation summary, Australian Marine Parks.

Why: Pulu Keeling National Park protects North Keeling, an uninhabited atoll where green and hawksbill turtles use the shores, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park, declared in March 2022, covers the surrounding waters. Permits are needed for any commercial or recreational marine activity there, and nobody may land on North Keeling without park staff. The calm southern lagoon is where turtles are seen close to the beaches. We would watch quietly from a canoe or the shore, keep our distance, and never swim with or touch the turtles.

TurtlesCoral reefs

Why Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are a small Australian atoll in the Indian Ocean with warm water and a quiet lagoon. Green turtles nest mainly on North Keeling and feed in the southern lagoon, and hawksbills also live here. The islands sit inside a marine park and a national park, and Home Island is the heart of Cocos Malay culture. Flights come from Perth about twice a week.

Conservation-led. Ocean Calling guests never chase, touch or bait animals.

When to go

Year-round. Timing changes by place and by animal, so check each place below.

We share this place as a story so you can learn. There is no Ocean Calling trip.

Our ethics check

Can we travel here ethically?

Story only

We tell the story. We do not sell a trip here.

Checked 6 Oct 2026. Places change, so we look again every year.

Sources for this check

The story

Where in Cocos (Keeling) Islands

We share these places as stories and research notes. We do not offer or sell trips here.

Southern lagoon and Direction Island

Story only

A warm lagoon where green turtles feed on seagrass, watched and never touched.

Also seen: Green turtles feeding in the lagoon (watch, do not touch)

When: Year-round. Reef diving and snorkelling are possible through the year, and the best timing for mantas is still being confirmed. Sightings are never promised.

Pulu Keeling (North Keeling)

Story only

A closed island in a national park where green turtles nest.

Also seen: Turtle nesting (protected, closed island, not a visit)

Animals

Animals recorded in Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Tap an animal to learn how it lives, where it travels and how to meet it respectfully.

Land animals

Green turtle resting on the reef, shell and head pattern in sharp detail

Green turtleChelonia mydasSeen in 103 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Hawksbill turtleEretmochelys imbricataSeen in 88 countries in the AtlasCritically Endangered

Common bottlenose dolphin swimming over a seagrass bed

Common bottlenose dolphinTursiops truncatusSeen in 89 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Olive ridley turtles nesting on Playa Ostional, Costa Rica

Olive ridley turtleLepidochelys olivaceaSeen in 40 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Loggerhead turtle at the surface feeding on Portuguese man o' war

Loggerhead turtleCaretta carettaSeen in 89 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Leatherback hatchling crossing the sand toward the sea

Leatherback turtleDermochelys coriaceaSeen in 76 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Humpback whale swimming close with long pectoral fin

Humpback whaleMegaptera novaeangliaeSeen in 87 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Huge spotted whale shark gliding through open blue water

Whale sharkRhincodon typusSeen in 54 countries in the AtlasEndangered

Reef manta ray gliding over a sandy lagoon

Reef manta rayMobula alfrediSeen in 20 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Dugong grazing on seagrass over a sandy seabed

DugongDugong dugonSeen in 32 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Close view of a red-footed booby head with blue, pink and red bill and throat skin among green leaves

Red-footed boobySula sulaSeen in 91 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern Cocos angelfishCentropyge joculatorSeen in 2 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Buff-banded rail with a rust-brown neck band and barred body walking over pale coral rock

Cocos buff-banded railHypotaenidia philippensis andrewsiSeen in 1 country in the AtlasLives on landEndangered

Two blacktip reef sharks swimming over sunlit sand in turquoise water

Blacktip reef sharkCarcharhinus melanopterusSeen in 38 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

School of bumphead parrotfish swimming over coral

Bumphead parrotfishBolbometopon muricatumSeen in 16 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Whitetip reef sharks resting stacked in a reef crevice

Whitetip reef sharkTriaenodon obesusSeen in 43 countries in the AtlasVulnerable

Humphead wrasse swimming over a coral reef in Raja Ampat

Humphead wrasse (Napoleon wrasse)Cheilinus undulatusSeen in 34 countries in the AtlasEndangered

Wall of grey reef sharks cruising in blue water

Grey reef sharkCarcharhinus amblyrhynchosSeen in 33 countries in the AtlasEndangered

Great barracuda cruising in open blue water, showing jagged teeth

Great barracudaSphyraena barracudaSeen in 84 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Giant oceanic manta with T-shaped white shoulder patches and remoras

Oceanic manta ray (giant manta)Mobula birostrisSeen in 31 countries in the AtlasEndangered

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse with black stripe and blue tail

Bluestreak cleaner wrasseLabroides dimidiatusSeen in 51 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Picasso triggerfish with painted pattern over sand in the Maldives

Picasso triggerfish (lagoon triggerfish)Rhinecanthus aculeatusSeen in 41 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Wedge-tailed shearwaterArdenna pacificaSeen in 46 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Masked boobySula dactylatraSeen in 80 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Red-tailed tropicbird in Glendowie, Auckland, New Zealand, iNaturalist research-grade observation

Red-tailed tropicbirdPhaethon rubricaudaSeen in 28 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Adult brown booby standing on a rock with its bill open against blue sky, Principe

Brown boobySula leucogasterSeen in 104 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Giant trevally swimming close to a coral head, with small reef fish in blue water behind it

Giant trevallyCaranx ignobilisSeen in 33 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Great frigatebird in flight, with long angled wings and a forked tail

Great frigatebirdFregata minorSeen in 44 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Lesser frigatebird soaring against a blue sky with its wings spread and tail forked

Lesser frigatebirdFregata arielSeen in 39 countries in the AtlasLeast Concern

Curious?

Why this is a story, not a trip

Read our ethics check above. If you would like to talk about it, Rocío is happy to explain.

Ask Rocío Back to the Ocean Atlas

Also in Indian Ocean

Chagos (British Indian Ocean Territory)

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