He returned to Batavia on the clipper Donkervliet and spent some time in Dutch Coromandel.

He got into a fight with the governor of Coromandel, Adriaan de Visser, who accused Van Cloon of delivering bad quality goods.

The government in Batavia sent Van Cloon back to the Netherlands, but he persuaded the Directors of the Dutch East India Company that de Visser was not to be trusted.

On 9 October 1731 the Directors of the Dutch East India Company named Dirck van Cloon Governor-General of the Indies, to which he succeeded on 28 May 1732, following the disgrace of Diederik Durven.

Van Cloon was involved in a stand-off with the nascent Swedish East India Company, but he resolved it amicably.