A Cruising Guide Map to Isla del Cocos

Mary Vaughan-Jones
Mary Vaughan-Jones
Passage Blog
Sunday, March 1, 2026
0147 UTC | 05 33.209’N 087 02.508’W
Chatham Bay, Isla del Coco

Good evening,

The blog today is given to you through an amazing cruising guide map. Crewmember Amy Kardel has created something that actually would have been incredibly helpful to me in the planning of this Cocos trip!

We spent last night in Wafer Bay with plans to explore the ranger station in the morning, after being assured by the rangers it was calmer there (debatable). We saw a beautiful sunset with a cascading waterfall as company, happily chomping on tuna poke and excited for a new bay to explore.

We were quite literally rudely awakened from this dream at 0600 this morning, when the big dive boat stood off our stern, honking away. Apparently the rangers had told them, as they entered the protected area, that they could have the buoy we were on. After some chatter with the rangers, it was established we had to clear out and, actually, we couldn’t come ashore to the station as it was changeover day. Whilst this may not have been the ideal wake-up, it did mean we had a lovely sunrise pootle around the surrounding area before heading back to Chatham Bay. Unsurprisingly, spending another day exploring this idyllic bay has not been a hardship. Two more waterfalls have been found, more birds and creatures spotted, and a different snorkelling site explored. Most impressively, it has allowed Amy to improve on her wonderful cruising guide.

We set ‘sail’ (unfortunately it looks a very engine-happy return trip) at sunrise, so our final night has been spent eating good food, ice cream (!!), and admiring the night sky above us.

// Mary

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600nm from land