Mermaid Heaven: Cocos Island

Place:

Cocos Island (Spanish: Isla del Coco) is an uninhabited island (except for a permanent ranger station) located off the shore of Costa Rica. It constitutes the 11th district (one of 13) of Puntarenas Canton of the province of Puntarenas. It is one of the National Parks of Costa Rica. It is located in the Pacific Ocean.Surrounded by deep waters with counter-currents, Cocos Island is admired by scuba divers for its populations of Hammerhead sharks,rays, dolphins and other large marine species.

12.1167° S, 96.9000° E

Transport:

*By plane only

There is one airport on West Island that receives two National Jet flights a week from Perth, usually stopping over at Christmas Island and Exmouth either on the way or the way back. Oneway/return is A$840/$1680, with advance purchase returns available for $1098.
Every second Saturday, an additional flight from National Jet departs to the Islands operating every two weeks. Flight departs Perth at 0945 (WST) on an alternating schedule. More information can be obtained through your travel agent.
Virgin Australia will commence services from Thursday 1 April 2010 with twice weekly flights to Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island and an additional third weekly flight to Christmas Island only which will be reassessed after six months, subject to demand. This service will be underwritten by the Federal Government.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are one and a half hours behind Western Standard Time (WST) and three and a half hours behind Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Australian citizens do not need a passport, but must carry some form of photographic identification.