Frequently Asked Questions

It’s an accommodation-only booking, so you’ll need to look after your own meals, drinks, transport etc. There’s a small kitchen in each eco-chalet along with a fridge and freezer if you’d like to do your own cooking, or you can eat out in town. It’s up to you. We’re happy to help with recommendations for where to eat, get a hire car etc. There’s free wifi, tea and coffee, milk etc.

Yes, and there’s a few car hire companies to choose from. Swell Lodge’s two eco-chalets are about a 30 minute drive from town or the airport, and the island’s one taxi isn’t always operational. We recommend hiring a car in advance, so you can explore the island at your leasure, go into town for shops and meals etc. We drive on the left side of the road here like the rest of Australia, but if that scares you, rest assurred Christmas Island must be about the easiest place to learn to drive on the other side – people tend to drive slow and on whatever side has the least crabs and pot holes. You’ll be fine. There’s only one traffic light on the whole island.

Happily, there is no mobile cell phone coverage at Swell Lodge, so you won’t be getting any unwanted work calls. However, if you choose to connect your smartphone to the complimentary Wi-Fi, then you’ll be able to send messages and place calls using apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook and so on. We suggest not to though – it’s a rare and precious opportunity to truly disconnect out here and unwind.

In and around the township there is limited Telstra mobile phone coverage, 4G.

What do you think this is? Camping? Of course there is power, courtesy of the solar panel array mounted on the roof of each eco-chalet feeding that beautiful clean sunlight into a bank of super-high-tech lithium batteries for your usage day and night.

Do keep in mind that being solar-powered, excessive use – especially during extended periods of cloudy weather – can deplete the battery reserves. It is theoretically possible to even run out. However, you are able to track power usage and battery levels using the Swell Lodge app on the complimentary iPad so you’ll be able to see if you are running low on power and perhaps turn off or unplug a few things before that happens. We can recharge via a generator if required, but we really shouldn’t need to.

Christmas Island is a tropical paradise where the temperature and humidity doesn’t vary much throughout the year. It never gets cold, nor uncomfortably hot: It’s T-shirt and shorts weather all year. August/September are our coldest months where the temperature could drop as low as about 23 degrees Celsius. April/May are our warmer months but even then the temperature rarely climbs above 29 degrees Celsius, and the ceiling fan and ocean breeze at Swell Lodge is more than adequate for keeping guests cool.

Humidity usually stays between 80% to 90%, and the island experiences both wet and dry seasons. The wet season is typically between November and April, with the highest rainfall generally occurring in February/March. As the wet season coincides with the famous red crab migration and is also peak whale shark season, it is still a popular time to visit Christmas Island.

The crystal-clear ocean surrounding Christmas Island remains the perfect temperature to swim, snorkel and dive in all year round, always a balmy 26-29 degrees Celsius.

That depends on what activities you want to do while you’re here.

Getting to your eco-chalet itself involves a flat 100m walking trail through the jungle from the car park, however there is a luggage trolley to make it easier.

As for exploring the island, there’s a huge range in what you can choose to do, and we’ve got a handy guide to help you decide what you might most enjoy and fitness required – while some are super-easy, flat boardwalks, others such as Dolly Beach do require a 4km round-trip or steep climbs.

If you’d rather relax though, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the view from the lodge, and there’s birds, books, music, games etc, there are some local easy walks nearby you can do too.

Part of the joy of this secret paradise is that so few tourists visit each year – less than two thousand! So while we have some really easy walking tracks, others can be a little more rustic with tripping hazards like tree roots or limestone rocks to tread carefully over.

Merrial’s Beach is a beautifully secluded little low-tide beach about 15 minutes walk from the lodge. It’s a nice spot to cool off but unless it’s very calm, snorkelling is best done back in the main cove.

No. Each eco-chalet is equipped with a super-modern, high-efficiency Haiku celing fan above the bed delivering a strong cooling breeze even if the ocean doesn’t. We’ve never had a guest complain that it’s too hot, and we have had several request thicker blankets!

No. There are no surfable wave breaks at Swell Lodge. 

Swell Lodge is siutated on the pristine west coast of Christmas Island, inside the national park, a pleasant half hour drive from town (more if there’s a lot of crabs out).