First of all, I’d like to help you find where on earth Chagos is—literally! Many people may not have heard of this tiny archipelago in the center of the Indian Ocean. So, find the southernmost atoll in the Maldives and head around 300NM south, where you’ll hit some islands that look like they should be out of a crazy movie: Chagos.
So, now you know where it is, let’s dive into a bit more about it! How do you get there? What is so special about it? Why aren’t there any people? And several other things that we got to experience while here… Sailing in Chagos!
Related:
Indian Ocean Crossing: Part Three – Maldives to Chagos
I Ate Coconut Every Day for a Week: My Favourite Recipes and Uses!
The Journey There
Right, as I mentioned above, Chagos is 300NM from the Maldives—which equals around two nights of sailing for us to get there. Before we left, however, we had to stock up with as much food and fuel as we could, making sure we had enough to last us a month or more because once you left, there was nothing until Seychelles. Yep, you read that correctly: NOTHING!
Anyway, more on that very nothingness in a minute. Back to how we got to Chagos. By the way, you can read a more in-depth version of the passage here.
Our passage was a good one, and on morning three I found myself glancing up to see land. LAND HO! The cry went out and within two hours we were dropping sails and making our way over the reef and through the atoll to the two other yachts anchored here already.
We were greeted by dolphins and jumped in for a swim as soon as the anchor was down—this place was magical, and we couldn’t wait to explore.
History and Rules
Rules
Now, before we got to explore, we had to reread the rules… of which there were many! Just to state a few: no drone flying, no spearfishing, no fires bigger than 2m by 60cm, no collecting shells, no catching crustaceans… and so on. All of these were backed up with: fine of £1000 and a possible prison sentence. So naturally, we obeyed them—even if we did manage to find some loopholes.
That’s the rules side of it. Now you might be wondering why there are so many rules and who’s telling us to obey them? I would be too! So now let me explain why there are ruins and a little on the history of Chagos.
History
Basically, the history went like this: The Chagossian people lived happily here. Then French explorers found them and took over as part of Mauritius. After a few years, the French signed a treaty with the UK and now the British owned Chagos. The British built plantations and employed the local Chagossians to work in them on a few of the islands. Next, the US comes in and asks the UK if they can have a military base in Chagos. The UK says yes, and the US requests that all the people living there be removed. The UK once again says okay and the native Chagossians are exported to Mauritius, leaving everything behind. That was about 50 years ago now.
Modern day: the British still own it and the US has a military base on the main island of Diego Garcia. The rest of the archipelago has been left alone. I believe there is some change going on, as the Chagossians have recently been fighting to get their country back (understandably), but I’m not entirely sure where that stands at the moment.
I say all this to give you a little extra knowledge and so you can understand why the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) has so many rules for any sailors wishing to come here. I’ll add to that the fact that it also costs a fair bit to even be able to sail here…
Why Go?
So they’ve made it difficult to get here, made it cost a lot, and also added a heap of rules. Why did you even stop? Good question! For a few reasons. First of all, it is good for the sailing strategy to get to Seychelles, providing a very helpful stop and the ability to choose a good weather window for the next thousand miles. Second, very few people get to come to Chagos because there are no flights in or out, so it’s actually a privilege to be able to visit. Third is the fact there could be surf and no one has surfed it as far as we know… that’s an exciting prospect!!
So yes, there are rules and a bit of history. Hopefully you understand a little more by now about this crazy place!
All the Cool Stuff
Enough about history. You didn’t come to read about that, I just had to give it a little context! But much more interesting are the cool things there are to do while sailing in Chagos:
Free-diving
It was unreal. And I mean that. We went outside the reef where there was a crazy drop-off and on the first day were literally in the middle of this bait-ball of hundreds of trevally! My mind had officially been blown!
Also, inside the atoll we found a shipwrecked monohull in about 5m of water and dived through the hole in the side, trying to figure out what had happened and coming out with more questions than answers. Then there were the Nemos, which was one of Mum’s favourite things—they were endemic, which I eventually figured out meant they could only be found here in Chagos (I took the photo to the right, proof we actually found them 😉). Other than those particular things, you could pretty much dunk your head in anywhere with a mask and be astounded!
Surfing
Get excited! We were actually right, and there was surf here… The first day we headed off in the dinghy determined to go see what we could find. The answer was: small barreling left-handers on the backside of a remote island right next to a shipwreck on shore called Imatha (that’s pretty much the only hint I’m gonna give as to where it is so I hope you were paying attention).
It was a few days before the wind was good again, but we did get two more sessions before we left and it was just downright fun! We could totally see the potential if there were to be any bigger swell.
Coconuts
The islands were made of coconut trees! When we arrived, I set myself the challenge of eating coconut in some form every day… and succeeded. Feel free to read more about that here!
Ruins
Remember those British-built plantations? Well, when everyone left, the buildings were all abandoned. In the Salomon Islands (the archipelago we were in), there was one island with ruins on it. Curious, we headed to check it out.
Apart from getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, we found big stone and concrete buildings, iron railway tracks with wheels, a couple wells, and a graveyard (eerie!). It’s actually kinda sad. These people were forced to leave, and now all that’s left are these forgotten buildings ruled by huge coconut crabs.
Shipwrecks
I mentioned before in the freediving section how we found an old monohull sunken in the atoll. Well, there was also a big catamaran washed up on the beach right in front of the anchorage! You could swim from the beach to the boat and find all sorts of parts from engine pipes to a CD, hatches to a toilet. Weird? Yep. And we still haven’t got answers as to what happened!
The Beach
Oh, the beach! The little two’s dreams came true! I mean, what more could you want? Free rein, no people to worry about, hermit crabs, coconuts, a shipwreck… They disappeared every afternoon and wouldn’t come back till sunset. Gold!
One morning Archie asked Mum to wake him up at first light and he headed in to go and have fun before it got too hot… so good!
The Isolation
It was pretty real, knowing there’s nothing and the closest people were several miles away. That said, there were other boats there and at one point there were five of us! So with that, it helped with the total remoteness. Having some other people to say hi to each day was kinda nice.
But that didn’t help with the fact we were running low on petrol for the dinghy and were quickly counting down our tomatoes. Some friends on another boat arrived after we’d been there a week. They kindly brought another 20L of petrol for us… we showed them the dive spots and surf in return! They also came in with a huge tuna hanging off their davits—it was as big as Archie (he lay down next to it!!). We helped them fillet it and then had a big sushi night. This boosted spirits and made for an exciting dinner, which was a bit of fun!
All that said, at night, when it’s silent and you just have the birds, wind, and gentle sound of waves to listen to, and the moon and untouched sky to stare at, you realise just how remote you are and just how special it is to be there.
Of course, there are also the thoughts of risks. You’re gonna play it just that little bit safer, be that little bit wiser, because you know that if something terrible happens, help is very far away.
Most of the time though, we embraced it—and those thoughts were just in the back of our minds.
Summary
Sailing in Chagos gave us an experience that’s hard to put into words. I mean, you can try: remote, beautiful, wild, untouched… but nothing seems to do it justice!
I like that it’s different to any other place you can sail. It’s remote but still has crazy rules. You have to go up the mast to get aerial shots. Simple things like fires on the beach with friends become exciting and special—way cooler than going out to a restaurant if you ask me (seared tuna over a hot fire, anyone?)! And the feel of it is awesome.
If you’re interested in more about Chagos, head over and check out these links: Chagos Archipeligo – Wikipedia, Chagos – Noonsite, Chagos Marine Reserve – Pew Environment Group.
Would I go back? Yes, I would, but I don’t think it would be the same, simply because we’ve explored it. Not all of it, of course, but the original excitement of having no idea is a special thing that only happens the first time you visit a place.
Chagos is wild. I don’t have a good way of summarising it other than that! I would love to know your thoughts on it though… so please comment!
Ah I love this Bella!! You’re going to have to give me advice on how to start sailing xx
I’ve wanted to buy a catamaran since I was about 13! I’m 21 and study biology at Oxford university in the UK and the plan is to get a well paying job in London and eventually buy one. PS. went to the Maldives just as a holiday last year and had the same thing about swimming in bait balls, it was so good! The reefs there tend to not be as lively as they once were but honestly this particular place we went was so sooo good! Also saw like five tuna in the distance and fully thought they were dolphins because they were so big! Didn’t get to surf though because I’m recovering from a knee and back injury 🙁
Could you follow my insta? @hanasrehab is my page about doing rehab to get back to surfing, and @hana.x366 is where I post some of my ocean stuff 💕 much love !!!
Hey Hana!!
Ahh your message made me smile! I love that you’ve had the catamaran dream since you were 13 — that’s so cool. You’re totally gonna make it happen, I can feel it!
The Maldives are magic hey?! Swimming with bait balls is the craziest feeling. And those tuna sound massive haha — I would’ve thought they were dolphins too 😂
So sorry to hear about your injury — that must be tough. I hope the rehab’s going well and that you’re back in the water soon. And I’m more than happy to chat sailing anytime!