The Sandpatch is the gentle side of Flying Fish Cove. Where the fringing reef meets the slope, a patch of pale sand opens up among the coral, and it is home to a large colony of garden eels that sway out of their burrows in the current and vanish as divers approach. Extra Divers list it as one of the cove's two main sections, recommending it for beginners and night dives, and it is where most open water courses and introductory dives on the island take place.

The appeal is less about scale than about relaxed, shallow diving with a great deal to look at. Around the edges of the sand, coral heads and small bommies hold anemones with clownfish, butterflyfish, damsels, wrasse, goatfish sifting the sand, lizardfish, blennies and gobies. Stingrays and turtles visit, and the island's endemic Christmas Island (Cocos) angelfish and hybrid fish are seen on the adjacent reef. The slope and drop-off of Admin Wall are close by, so it is easy to combine a look over the edge with a long shallow finish on the sand.

At night the Sandpatch comes into its own: octopus, cuttlefish, crabs, shrimps, Spanish dancers and hunting moray eels emerge, and sleeping parrotfish can be found in the reef. Because it is right beside the car park with a straightforward entry, it is the natural spot for an independent night dive with hired tanks once you know the cove. Photographers use it for macro and for patient garden eel shots.

The site suits beginners, students, snorkellers at high tide and anyone wanting an easy second or third dive of the day, and it remains diveable on many days when the boat sites are marginal – only north-west swell, which breaks across the cove entry, closes it.

Fly from Perth (about 4 hours, two to three flights a week, some via Cocos Islands) and hire a car – there is no public transport. Flying Fish Cove is the harbour at The Settlement, a two-minute drive from the dive shops and five minutes from most accommodation. Park in the beachside car park opposite the boat ramp at the western (southern) end of the cove, gear up at the car or picnic shelters, and walk straight down the concrete ramp into the water – a carry of only 20–30 m.

Alternatively step off the low water-level platform on the public jetty. Surface-swim or fin along the bottom 30–50 m over the inner reef flat to the drop-off. Tanks and weights can be hired from Extra Divers or Wet'n'Dry for independent dives.

Flying Fish Cove faces north-west and is the most protected water on the island through the south-east trade season (roughly April/May–November), when it is diveable almost every day. In the wet season (December–March/April) north-westerly monsoon swell, and swell from distant cyclones, rolls straight into the cove – the beach then becomes a surf break, the entry over the reef flat is dangerous and boat launching can be suspended; Extra Divers treat February–April as peak swell season. Avoid entering when waves are breaking on the reef flat; low tide makes the inner reef very shallow (snorkel it at high tide).

Tides are small (about 1 m). Visibility drops after heavy rain run-off and during red crab spawning (October–January), when crabs release eggs into the cove before dawn and whale sharks are most often seen off the drop-off. Night dives are best on calm dry-season nights.

Enter from the ramp, swim out to where the reef gives way to sand, then settle low and slow along the sand edge, approaching the garden eels gradually. Explore the coral heads and bommies around the patch, stay above about 15 m, and return along the reef edge to the ramp with a safety stop in the shallows.

Extra Divers Christmas Island – training dives, Discover Scuba and guided night dives; CI Wet'n'Dry Adventures – courses and introductory dives in the cove.