Diego Garcia Tourism - The unusual case of Diego Garcia: A tropical paradise with a dark history Despite the incredible waves, surfing is illegal on the island. But with a case now before the International Court of Justice, change may be on the way.
Seven hundred and twenty-seven miles south of the Maldives, just feet above the choppy waters of the Indian Ocean, lies a group of tropical atolls known as the Chagos Archipelago.
Diego Garcia Tourism
Despite the islands' proximity to some of the world's most famous surfing and honeymoon destinations, the archipelago is largely unknown outside of military and conspiracy theory circles. Chagos, located west of southern Sumatra and east of Mauritius, has, unsurprisingly, its own range of pumping waves. However, there's a reason why you've never heard of anyone surfing there.
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For centuries, the archipelago hosted a community of tropical islands like no other, made up of Creole people living in fishing and farming communities. Land and sea produced more than enough for the inhabitants, and by all accounts they were satisfied.
In the early 1960s, secret talks began between the American and British authorities about establishing a joint strategic military base on the largest of the atolls, called Diego Garcia. At the time, Chagos was categorized as one of the "dependent regions" of the British colony of Mauritius. When Britain granted Mauritius its long-awaited independence in 1965, it decided to retain ownership of the islands as part of the deal. After Mauritius was offered just over £3 million to smooth the negotiation, the deal was done and the islands were declared a "British Indian Ocean Territory".
A difficult exodus of about 2,000 Chaga residents followed. As part of the cleanup, the U.S. Navy seized and gassed all of the island's dogs, some of which the residents allegedly owned as pets. In 1971, through a mixture of fear and force, all natives were loaded onto ships bound for Mauritius. Once there, they were moved to dilapidated apartments without electricity or running water. The British and Americans immediately began work on a giant joint military base on Diego Garcia, clearing pristine island habitats and desecrated coral reefs to make way for a network of airstrips and military barracks.
In the following years, many protested against the situation of the locals and demanded that they be allowed to return to their homeland. In response, the British and American authorities engaged in a series of political maneuvers to retain what had become an extremely important air base strategically located in the immediate vicinity of the Middle East.
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First, the displaced islanders were offered small compensation packages that, unbeknownst to the many non-English-speaking Chagossians who accepted them, contained in the fine print a waiver of their right to return.
More recently, in 2008, the British government signed off on the creation of a marine protected area around the Chagos to ensure that no fishing would be allowed in the habitat if they were ever allowed to return. While this sounds like a wild conspiracy theory, various leaked diplomatic cables confirm the government's ulterior motives. In one from May 2009, a British Foreign Office official told the US government that the establishment of the reserve would "effectively pay for the resettlement demands of the former inhabitants of the islands".
While environmentalists initially celebrated the establishment of the zone, many withdrew their praise after reading the leaked cables. Now campaign groups such as Greenpeace say their priority is the return of the islanders, along with the implementation of a "joint management plan for the marine reserve, which includes zoning some areas to allow for sustainable subsistence fishing".
If such a thing ever happened, perhaps the introduction of carefully managed surf tourism, such as on the islands of Papua New Guinea and Morotai in the Maluku Islands, could be part of the plan to allow island communities to flourish.
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For at least the past 60 years, Diego Garcia's beautiful waves have largely disappeared, as the soldiers stationed there have for some reason been strictly forbidden from surfing and indeed from entering the ocean on the seaward side. Although that didn't stop a few crazy soldiers from trying their luck.
A young sailor named Tom Cress from Palos Verdes, Florida was said to be the first to have a crack after being deployed to the base in 1975. Back then, Diego Garcia was a pretty miserable place. It was unbearably hot and humid, and according to a 1981 article in Surfer Magazine, the staff was mainly "rednecks who hated beaches and anyone who found some joy there." Mostly it was just drinking. beer and grind the shells of giant crabs while trying to avoid being clipped by their giant seaweed. One day, Cress was given access to an ambulance and from there he began to explore the island's surfing potential. Somehow he managed to smuggle his 8'6 pintail in there (would be hard to believe if it weren't for the photos in the original article above) and spent a year looking for fun on the hook-in line. Unfortunately for Tom, he wasn't able to lure many mates into line to join him, mainly due to the abundance of dangers lurking among the fast-breaking waves and shallow coral reefs, including many hungry sharks, stingrays and stingrays. And of course, the limited medical facilities on land if you come across any.
An unknown soldier and some wooden planks made on the island. Photo by Scott Brown. Source: PPDRDG
In the years since, however, a few other stories and images of intrepid soldiers taking to the waves have emerged, often in vessels they built themselves on the island. Today, the Morale Wellness and Recreation unit encourages a wider range of activities, but surfing is still prohibited and will surely remain so as long as Diego Garcia remains a military base. But how long it will last is less certain.
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In the first week of September, Mauritius filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to return the islands to displaced residents. In response, the British Foreign Office continued to insist that they would not be given up, at least not until they were good and ready.
"While we do not recognize the Republic of Mauritius's claim to sovereignty over the archipelago, we have made repeated commitments to cede it to Mauritius when it is no longer needed for defense purposes, and we maintain that commitment." the spokesman said. However, Mauritius is losing patience and has set about rallying support from around the world for pressure.
While diplomats and politicians fight a war of words on the other side of the world, the Chagossians wait in the hope that one day they will be allowed to return to their countries.
We use cookies to provide you with the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site, we will assume that you are satisfied with it. OkEssential Cookies OnlyDiego Garcia is a beautiful foot-shaped atoll south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, considered part of the British Indian Territory. The island is about 1,970 miles long of beautiful beaches and sunsets. The atoll is approximately 1,970 nautical miles east of the coast of Africa, 967 nautical miles south-southwest of the southern tip of India, and 2,550 nautical miles west-northwest of the west coast of Australia. This island is better known as host to some notable visitors, sometimes wilder than the native animals themselves, the US and British military, merchant marine and contractors. Considered very restricted and secluded due to its military nature, Diego Garcia is open to many events and activities and a small selection of restaurants and other facilities for its visitors. The only way to get there as a visitor is by boat in an emergency. On the other hand; there seem to be special permits for those working in animal protection and research.*
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The British tried hard to preserve the original plantation colonies...and they did. Diego Garcia was a coconut oil processing colony at the turn of the century and is beautifully preserved.
The area also hosts some of the best fishing in the world. "Tuna, wahoo, snapper, 'sweet lips', marlin, barracuda are today's catch." The area is also home to the legendary "Turtle Cove", a safe haven for the turtle population of the Chagos Archipelago. Those who have been to the island say that snorkeling and diving are a must, "and the sharks swim past you and completely ignore you ... if you're offended by that, you probably shouldn't go in the water." The sailing is good, the air is clean and the rental is cheap. There are a few nightclubs
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