Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Clearance
Cocos Pre-Arrival Procedures for Yachts
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are an Indian Ocean Territory, administered by Australia and therefore all yachts wanting to enter or depart Australia from here must comply with Australian Procedures. All clearance procedures are carried out by the Australian Federal Police on Cocos (Keeling) Islands. See the Arrival Information Pack for information.
If you have any questions about arriving into Australia at Cocos (Keeling), email the Australian Border Force at ChristmasIslandDistrictOffice@abf.gov.au.
Pre-Arrival Boat
- Australian Border Force require an Advance Notice of Arrival at least 96 hours before arrival. Penalties may apply for failure to do so. See Australia/Formalities for full details.
- In addition, the ABF form B333 – Small Craft Arrival Report – must be completed well in advance of your anticipated arrival into the Cocos Keeling Islands. Go to https://www.abf.gov.au/form-listing/forms/b333.pdf and send through to dmwaci@abf.gov.au.
- The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) also require a Pre-Arrival Report which should be sent well in advance of arrival as well (see Biosecurity for details).
Pre-Arrival Crew
All nationalities, with the sole exception of New Zealanders, must obtain a visa in advance or be registered as an eVisitor. See Immigration for details.
Cocos Arrival Procedures for Yachts
Arrival Notification
When approaching the 20 km (12 nautical miles) limit, radio the CKI Police on VHF Channel 20 announcing your imminent arrival. Clearance information will be provided to you.
If you do not have an AIS transponder, it is possible you will be called up by a Border Control vessel before reaching the 20 km (12 mile) limit, as this area is regularly patrolled. It is still necessary to call “Cocos Police” on VHF Channel 20.
Be prepared to answer questions about location, ETA to the anchorage, number of persons/ weapons/animals on board etc. There is a 24/7 watch on VHF Channel 20, keep calling every 30 minutes until answered.
General Procedure
Incoming vessels must fly the yellow Q flag and anchor in the Direction Island Vessel Anchorage Area. Contact the Police on VHF Channel 20 once anchored and they will advise you on clearance procedures. No one on board should leave the vessel nor should there be any contact with anyone until clearance is completed. The buoys at Direction Island are not suitable for yachts, please anchor. Officials will visit you on board to conduct clearance formalities.
Customs, Immigration, and quarantine are on West Island. Usually, a single police officer will come by in a small boat and will do the quarantine, immigration, and customs clearances. However, out of season, you may well have to get to West Island yourself, using the very limited ferry service or your own dinghy. The skipper will be requested to present yacht registration, details of passengers on board and last port clearance.
Port fees need to be paid at the Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands office on Home Island.
Australian Federal Police – Cocos Keeling Islands
Tel: (08) 9162 6600
E-mail: cocospolice@lelink.net.au
See Sailing to Cocos – the official website.
Last updated: August 2024
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Now Covid travel restrictions are lifting we are starting to plan our exit from Australia and were very much hoping to stop via Cocos Keeling. This makes for a predictable weather window to travel the first big hop to cross the Indian Ocean. Noon site suggests that permission is granted on a ‘case-by-case basis’ – but I just posted an application and it was declined. Application forms are setup to expect you to fly in and out from WA, but I completed them anyway and added comments to clarify our situation.
Has anyone managed to get an approval?
Any thoughts? Tips?
Hi MaryAnne, thanks for the question. I’ve made contact with the Authorities in Cocos and will let you know what they come back with.
Following as we are in similar situation.
Posted on behalf of Paul Stephens aboard s/v Tin Tin:
Getting to West island to clear in/out was less easy especially as there was no consensus on the ferry timetable. I have since laminated one and attached to the notice board. There is a ferry from Direction to Home island on Saturday a.m. at 10:00 but the connections don’t really work to get back again.
So it’s best to dinghy the 1.5nm to Home island giving the chance if the last ferry back from West island at 16:00. Ferry is AU $3.50 single or $5.00 return. The bus meets the ferry for $0.50… everything shuts at 15:00 on Saturday and there was no cafe or bar open. The Community Centre was helpful with Wi-Fi, and the shop reasonably stocked.
Using broadband radar over-layed on the Navionics Gold electronic charts, we found that the chart was precisely accurate. There is an error in the positioning of the entrance waypoint on the plan of Direction Island in the Indian Ocean Crossing Guide.
The plan shows the waypoint to be at the seaward end of the leading lines to West Island but, when plotted, it is 0.28M east of the leading lines. The waypoint is still a perfectly safe place to head for, although the boat will be closer to the land than the plan suggests.
In September 2015 there is now buoyage (unlit) to help you into the anchorage: From the IO Crossing Guide waypoint, head S and then SE towards the first tall post with a red can top. Leave that post to port and then turn towards the anchorage. If you have good light, you’ll see a band of reef ahead of you.
Identify the smaller post with a green triangle on top as this marks the area of deeper water over the reef. Keep the post close on your starboard side. We found the depths to be either equal to or more than those marked on the Navionics Gold chart. There are lots of small reefs in the anchorage but they are all deep until close inshore.
Anchor west of the jetty to keep out of the ferry/recreation zone.