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A pristine natural beach set on the uninhabited coral islet of Direction Island, within the remote South Keeling Atoll of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. Cossies Beach unfurls in a crescent of powder-fine white sand fringed by leaning coconut palms, framed on either side by translucent, impossibly turquoise lagoon waters that fade into deeper cobalt beyond the reef.

Named Australia’s most beautiful beach in 2017, this untouched stretch owes its allure to isolation: no permanent residents, no roads, only a scattering of shaded pondoks, eco-toilets and wood-fired barbecues for the rare visitors who arrive by boat. Just offshore, The Rip offers some of the finest snorkelling in the Indian Ocean, where reef sharks glide through channels of coral and shoals of tropical fish shimmer beneath the surface.

The atmosphere is one of profound quietude and wildness — a place where the Indian Ocean’s trade winds, seabird colonies and coconut groves remain largely as they were centuries ago, offering an authentic, barefoot encounter with one of the last truly unspoiled tropical islands on Earth.