I'm going Cocos with a small crew late July / early August and I've got a couple of questions (yes I've searched but no direct answers):

- Kites: What to take? I can hold my 16m to ~17knots, my 12m to ~25knots and my 9m to ~35 knots on flat water. The missus has been told that her luggage will be limited to 2 bikinis, 2 sarongs, and toiletries but still 3 kites, harness plus board in travel bag will be ~20-25kg. But I guess I'll be p!ssed if I don't have right sized kite.

- Booties: I've heard these are recommended due to coral? Would prefer as little as possible between board and feet...

- Food: Is it really expensive? Should I bother trying to take some food with? Do I need to order ahead with the store?

- BOOZE: Is it really cheaper than airport duty free?

I think that's all but any other general comments/recommendations would be much appreciated.

A couple of answers for you;
I used a 12 & 9 easily, probably doesn't get over 25kts.

You can send stuff prior to travelling with National Jet, just take it to the airport 2 or 3 weeks before with your ticket details. That way when you fly your luggage won't weigh as much, excess costs an arm and a leg.

Food is nothing special, meals are at the Hotel at set times and the shop opens for a few hours each day, expensive and limited stuff.

Booties are handy, the lagoon has lots of coral, better to be safe than sorry. Dead shallow at low tide. Hope this helps, great spot, very chilled out.
P.S Booze is cheap as duty free.

Been a few years since I went, but it's an awesome place. You might want to snorkle the rip, and explore a bit, and booties are great for this. Like being in a fish tank. Recommend getting to Direction Island and snorkling "The Rip".

Food is was more pricey than you're used to as food arrives by sea container. Mess hall was great. All you can eat. We were there for 10 days, and had 1 x 30 knotter, 1 no-winder, and the remainder 18-23 knots 24 hours/day. We had excellent timing!

Here over here, and enter "Cocos", and choose "in the last year":

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/search.asp

Have an awesome trip - you'll love it.

i would take your 12 and 16, i had a few days when i went when it was about 14-16kts that time of year, so the 12 wasn't big enough.

make sure you do a day snorkelling at direction island, just get the ferry over there-its about $2!

definitely get your gear to nat jet a couple of weeks before so you are guaranteed to get your gear up there.

take the surfboard for any non wind days.

food isn't a problem, between the shop and the cafe you will get fed everyday. check the schedule when you get there as the restaurants are not open everyday.
you can also get a malay feed at home island on certain days.

its a top place, you will love it.

take one kite on as carry on with the bar packed with check in, they wont weigh whats on back just pack the kite the way it looked when you bought it, worked for me i took 4 kites and was still one kilo under. If youre going with zephyr meet up with the group at macraoona hotel, some of the group checked in as a group and combined their weight which worked

i am hell keen on getting over to cocos.
but i am on a very thin budget.
what is the least amount of $$$ you could spend on a 2 week trip.
i would be flying from Brissy, so theres $600 in flights.

now i just need to know the cost of the jet to get to the island and accom.

and is there any surfable surf there. hopefully blown out i guess

Thanks for the info guys. Stoke is building and there's still 3 months to go...

Do National Jet weigh your bags on the way home? If you send your bag up early when does it come home?

Also forgot to ask how far is the kite beach from the settlement? Should we hire bikes?

surfingboyo - You might be struggling to get there this year unless you go with Zephyr ( www.zephyrkitetours.com/ ). We got early-bird flights and quad share accommodation direct from www.islandbound.com.au/cocos.html for 11 nights ~$2,100pp . If you can't get early-bird flights then Zephyr starts to look a bit more attractive. You can also buy membership with them from them on-island.

we hired a banger dual cab hilux which didnt cost too much-you can get away with bikes but its a bit of a ride, especially with gear. you should be able to find the guy who hires the 4wds through the cocos website.

the surf beach will be protected from the wind, it was cranking and offshore the whole time we were there. just ask anyone where the surf shack is, people leave there boards and things there as theft is zero on the island. the shack is behind the compound where they kept the quaranteened elephants.

luggage on way back isnt usually a problem as its full with supplies on the way there, but if you do have trouble they will just throw it on the next flight.