The travel behavior of many holidaymakers has changed substantially. Many travelers seek close-by destinations that can be easily reached, or they prefer remote places with the potential of a minimum number of fellow travelers or local inhabitants around. Tourism Review introduces ten remote islands that are worth visiting in the time of social distancing.
Tristan is a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that belongs to the British Crown and has a population of fewer than 300 inhabitants. It is also part of a volcanic islands group, which gave it a really steep, mountainous relief, making much of its territory uninhabitable. In fact, the entire population lives in the flat area of the north-west coast, where the capital is located. The closest town to the west is Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), which is 3,360 kilometers away from Tristan, and Cape Town (South Africa) to the east, 2,816 kilometers off the coast.
With a population of 6,600, Jamestown, capital of Saint Helena, is the closest populated town to Tristan da Cunha, despite being 2,161 kilometers to the north. 200 years ago, Napoleon was detained in Saint Helena, and since Tristan da Cunha could have become a strategic point from which the French could rescue their emperor, the United Kingdom decided to populate Tristan with seven families in order to avoid it being used as a base of operations.
The Grenadines are a chain of around 600 small islands found in the waters of the Caribbean Sea, which belong to the larger island group of the Windward Islands, also known as Islands of Barlovento. In the Caribbean, the 600 islands of the Grenadines promise a summer of relaxation on the fine sandy beaches. Politically, the islands are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. With only a population of 16,000, it won’t be difficult to enjoy these beaches while staying safe.
Fiji is the definition of peace and paradise, offering tourists the opportunity to get away from everything. And in this case, that would be the coronavirus. As one of the 330 islands in the Fiji archipelago that covers over 18,000 square meters, Kokomo is simply isolated by nature itself. If you cross the world to get there, you can enjoy diving and fishing in the crystal clear waters of the South Pacific.
Niue is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, known as the “Rock of Polynesia”. The island, with a population of 1,600, is located about 2,400 kilometers northeast of New Zealand, in a triangle between Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. Although Niue is self-governing, it is an associated state with New Zealand, the country from which a flight departs to the island once a week.
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state made up by six major islands located in Oceania, in the traditional Melanesian islands. There are more than 990 small islands in its territory, divided between two island groups: the Solomon Islands archipelago, southeast of Papua New Guinea, and the Santa Cruz islands, located north of Vanuatu. If you decide to visit, it is worth to pay a stop to Mataniko Falls and the Langa Langa Lagoon.
The Marshall Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, in the Micronesia region. It is a set of 29 coral atolls and five major remote islands halfway between Hawaii and Australia, which were discovered more than two centuries ago. Go enjoy these paradisiacal beaches as soon as possible since it is one of the most threatened places by the rising sea levels.
Pitcairn Islands are a group of four volcanic islands that emerge at one end of Polynesia. The islands were discovered in 1789 when a group of mutineers tried to find a lost island in the Pacific where no one could find them. The island was so remote that today it still has no airport, airstrip or seaport, and the only communication with the rest of the world is a supply ship that arrives several times a year from Mangareva, in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia, or aboard some luxury cruises that pass over there.
Vanuatu, considered the happiest place in the world according to a study by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation, has so many beaches that it is difficult to run into people. This island country of volcanic origin is located about 1,750 kilometers east of northern Australia, 500 kilometers northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji and south of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea. Vanuatu is well known for its jungles, where the natives of this island live.
Palmerston is part of the Cook Islands, one of those places in the Pacific Ocean that is difficult to access considering it is 500 kilometers away from the nearest inhabited island and is only visited by a cargo ship with provisions a few times a year. The coral atoll of just 2.6 square kilometers was discovered in 1774 by James Cook.