Frequently Asked Questions

Basically, everything! From when you step off the plane and meet your guide at the airport, we’ll look after you for the rest of your holiday.

Swell Lodge includes all your drinks and meals (we have a private chef who’ll cook gourmet dinners for you on your oceanfront deck and leave you tasty self-serve breakfasts), daily guided tours (each day is unique, you’ll be picked up in the morning and head off on another adventure with lunch included to a different set of natural wonders or activities, including a boat snorkelling trip for stays of 4 nights or more), etc.

Your lodge has an unlimited drinks bar, and there’s snacks in the cupboard etc – if you ever find yourself needing anything you can just let us know!

No. You’ll be picked up at the airport (or elsewhere if needed) and dropped back at the end of your stay, and every day includes a daily guided tour showing you all the best places, so there’s really no point in trying to brave hiring one of the island’s old hire cars for your stay. Driving safely around crabs takes some practice anyway!

Happily, there is no mobile cell phone coverage at Swell Lodge, so you won’t be getting any unwanted work calls. There is an internet VoIP phone in each eco-chalet however, from which you can make and receive calls if you’d like, and if you choose to connect your smartphone to the complimentary Wi-Fi, then you’ll also 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 for voice and sms only – no data.

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 your guide will take your luggage down for you in a trolley.

The included daily guided activities require differing levels of physical ability, and while some are super-easy, flat boardwalks or can be shortened to suit your needs, others such as Dolly Beach do require a 4km round-trip. If a certain day’s activities don’t appeal to you, that’s perfectly fine – it might be a good day for you to enjoy a relaxing break at the lodge instead. We can drop off lunch to you and if you tire of relaxing with the view, the birds, books, music, games etc, there are some local easy walks nearby you can do on your own.

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. We’re very mindful of our guest’s abilities however, and all our guides are super-patient and happy to take as much time as needed, and are good at judging if a certain activity is well suited for you or not.

During the red crab migration (sometime between November and January and can last for up to 6 weeks), many roads are closed and so to reach some locations can require more walking if you still wish to visit them.

It’s best if you can let us know ahead of time about any physical limitations you might have so we can tailor your program accordingly.

Merrial’s Beach is a beautifully secluded little low-tide beach about 15 minutes walk from the lodge which our guides can show you. 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).