Better Than a Beach: Fascinating Islands

Reportedly the first land spotted by Christopher Columbus, San Salvador was called “Guanahani” by its Lucayan inhabitants. At the time of Columbus’s conquest, the inhabitants of this island considered it paradise. Today its population hovers just under a thousand people, and its white sandy beaches slip into shallow-water coral reefs home to hundreds of fish species, such as queen triggerfish and blue tangs.

This archipelago of 115 granite islands is located east of Kenya in the warm clear waters of the Indian Ocean. Its white beaches and rare animal species, including the Aldabra giant tortoise and the famous clownfish, make the Seychelles one of the most desirable holiday destinations on earth. But this paradise has had its troubles. In 1981, a planeload of mercenaries under the command of “Mad Mike” Hoare unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the national government. And today the country is in the throes of another man-made disaster, as climate change brings rising sea levels and shifting storm patterns.

If you’re looking for a place where people follow the rules and crime rates are among the lowest on earth, Singapore may be your utopia. This island nation made headlines in the 1990s for its law banning chewing gum. Aside from strict regulations, Singapore is also home to some of the world’s most unusual architecture, including Jewel at Changi Airport. Inside its glass and steel structure, this 10-story, 1,461,000-square-foot entertainment complex boasts a hedge maze and the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.

The Swedish island of Hamneskär gained its nickname Pater Noster, or “Our Father,” because sailors launched into recitations of the Lord’s Prayer while trying to navigate around it. The island later became known for its enormous cast-iron lighthouse, built in 1868, that has the look and feel of the Eiffel Tower; for over 150 years, lighthouse keepers were this island’s only human inhabitants. Today, however, there is a hotel, and the island has its own Instagram account. But consider yourself warned: Even its own PR team calls Pater Noster “one of Sweden’s most windblown, barren and exposed places.”

With their luscious green hills and white sand beaches, the Scottish Hebrides boast a certain mystical beauty — and a learned history. During the Dark Ages, the stone abbey on the tiny island of Iona (current population: 170) was one of the few places in all of Europe where monks kept alive the then-endangered arts of reading and writing in the Roman alphabet. And while suffering from tuberculosis in 1946, George Orwell headed to the Hebridean island of Jura, where he wrote his dystopian classic “1984.” Weather-appropriate beachwear can include a bikini, so long as it is also worn with a duffle coat and woolen socks. For warmth there is also the Hebridean Whisky Trail.

Though it's the world's fifth-largest island, Baffin has a population of only about 11,000 people. Situated between mainland Canada and Greenland, Baffin is a place to relish awe-inspiring landscapes. Vast and cold, this is not everyone’s ideal vacation locale. But you’ll have the chance to learn about Inuit culture and dog-sled your way to places of interest.

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Slap bang in the middle of the Mediterranean, Malta has both spectacular beauty and historical significance. After the Crusades, the Knights of St. John settled on Malta. But the Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent was intent on crushing them and sent a fleet of 40,000 troops to attack the tiny fort of St. Elmo. Astonishingly, the Maltese garrisons inflicted huge losses on the Turks, who subsequently withdrew. Later besieged by Axis forces during World War II, Malta and its Allied defenders succeeded against formidable odds.

The South Atlantic island of St. Helena is among the world's most remote settings, which is why the British sent Napoleon here after his 1815 defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Then, in 1890, after the British defeated the Zulus, they exiled King Dinuzulu here, largely as a punishment for his father’s victory at the Battle of Isandlwana. Today there are only two ways of reaching St. Helena — a weekly flight from Johannesburg or a seven-day sea voyage from Cape Town. Once arrived, you can visit the house in which Napoleon lived and died. You can also spot hammerhead and whale sharks, then hike up to “Lot’s Wife’s Ponds” for a dip in the clear pools.

From atop the Cape Town’s Table Mountain, the view across the bay is interrupted by a flat, desolate rock called Robben Island. It’s famous for housing a prisoner of royal Xhosa blood: Nelson Mandela. Yet Mandela was not the first Xhosa royal confined there. Two great leaders, Maqoma and Makhanda — who were thorns in the side of the British — were captive here more than a century before Mandela. Of the thousands of political prisoners incarcerated on Robben Island, Makhanda is the only one who tried to swim for freedom; he drowned in the attempt. The prison is now a museum.

What islands would you add to this list and why?

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