| [+]

This uninhabited coral cay beach is one of the most pristine natural swimming spots in the Indian Ocean. Cossies Beach unfurls along the western shore of Direction Island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a scattering of coral atolls forming one of Australia’s most remote external territories. Powder-fine white sand meets an impossibly clear turquoise lagoon, framed by leaning coconut palms and thick tropical scrub.

Accessible only by boat, the beach is uninhabited save for shaded pondoks, eco-toilets and wood-fired barbecues left for day visitors. Just offshore, a narrow channel known as The Rip delivers a drift-snorkel through vivid coral gardens teeming with reef fish, reef sharks and turtles. Voted Australia’s best beach, Cossies remains blissfully undeveloped, its isolation from the mainland preserving a sense of untouched, castaway serenity found in few other places on earth.