Pulu Maraya is the best independent snorkel on West Island, the island where visitors stay, and needs nothing more than a bike and a mask. The official Cocos snorkelling guide describes a short reef walk from Scout Park across to Pulu Maraya at low to mid tide, where snorkellers find giant clams, rock cods, butterflyfish, angelfish and parrotfish, with turtles often seen. The tourism site's snorkelling feature describes a drift snorkel around the island, with puffers and a resident octopus.

Juvenile blacktip reef sharks patrol the shallows of the West Island lagoon, and small schools of fish shelter in the coral around the island's edge. The island is small, covered in coconut palms, and surrounded by coral patches in shallow water; the channel between Scout Park and the island carries a tidal flow, so the usual technique is to enter up-current and let the water carry you around. It is a relaxed, family-friendly snorkel that can be done repeatedly across a stay, at different tides and times of day.

Cocosday Tours also runs motorised canoe safaris to Pulu Maraya with snorkelling and paddle boards included, a good option for those who want company or a picnic. Because it is on the lagoon side, the water is warm and generally calm, but in strong trade winds the lagoon can be choppy. Reef shoes are essential for the walk across the reef flat, and care is needed not to trample coral: walk on sand and rubble channels wherever possible.

The tidal timing is the main thing to get right – check the tide chart, go on a falling or low tide, and return before the flat floods.

From the West Island settlement, drive or cycle along the main road to Scout Park on the lagoon side of the island and park by the beach. At low to mid tide, walk across the reef flat and the short channel from Scout Park to Pulu Maraya in reef shoes, carrying fins and mask. Snorkel around the island, drifting with the tidal stream, and return the same way before the tide rises too far.

Snorkel gear can be hired from the visitor centre on West Island. Cocosday Tours also runs motorised canoe safaris to Pulu Maraya.

Lagoon snorkelling is possible year-round, but the south-east trades (April/May–October, often 15–25 knots) chop the lagoon, stir up sand and make swimming harder; the doldrum season (November–April) usually brings glassy conditions and the clearest water. Tides matter more than swell inside the lagoon: shallow flats can become too shallow at low water, and tidal streams run through channels between islands. Heavy tropical showers are brief and have little effect on visibility because there is no river run-off.

Pulu Maraya is tide-dependent: the official guide recommends low to mid tide for the reef walk; at high tide the channel is deeper and the tidal stream stronger. The lagoon side of West Island is sheltered from ocean swell but exposed to south-east chop in the trades.

Walk across at low to mid tide, enter on the up-current side of Pulu Maraya and drift slowly around the island with the tidal stream, looking into the coral for clams, rock cods and octopus. Exit where you started and walk back before the tide floods the reef flat.

Self-guided from Scout Park. Cocosday Tours runs motorised canoe safaris with snorkelling and picnics at Pulu Maraya.