What island in southeast Asia is crawling with man-eating crocodiles? How did Danger Island earn its name? Find out in 12 Most Dangerous Islands You NEVER Want To Visit!
6 – “Farallon Islands “Twenty-miles west of San Francisco sits a series of islands that are so jagged they have earned the moniker The Devil’s Teeth but this may no longer be a name based only in appearance. Because of the islands potential dangerous humans have been banned from stepping foot on the islands. The waters around the islands are still a popular destination for whale watchers and because humans can no longer interfere, the Farallons have become home to one of the largest seabird colonies in the United States. Although you can still catch intrepid skindivers sneaking onto the islands, the government adamantly warns anyone that they do so at their own risk. You might be able to avoid the dozens of great white sharks that roam the area feeding off the Farallons large population of elephant seals but the real danger is one you won’t be able to punch in the nose. Throughout the middle of the twentieth century the waters around the island were used for the disposal of radioactive materials. There are almost 50,000 drums full of nuclear waste throughout the area and with numbers that high leaks are an inevitable certainty.
5 – “Reunion Island” West of the African island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean sits Reunion Island a smallest busy island that is covered by rainforest, rivers and breathtaking waterfalls. Though it is over 5,500 miles away from France the island is still governed by French law and because it is less of a hassle than traveling to island destination where passports may be required, it has become a popular vacation destination for French citizens. Because of this the island is one of the most modern islands in terms of sanitation and transportation. It could be easy to get carried away day-dreaming about visiting Reunion because of its beautiful villages and relative isolation from the outside world but tourists must be prepared for the terrifying realities of this pristine locale. First off, it is home to one of the most active volcanoes in all of the world which was a popular hiking destination for tourists until it was deemed too dangerous to traverse. The island also has the distinction of being one of the leading islands in terms of annual rainfall in the entire world and is often the victim of violent tropical cyclones. Lastly, Reunion is known for having one of the largest and most vicious populations of sharks encircling it. The sharks attack has become so bad that the French government has forbidden surfing around the island. Despite this, there are still around halfa dozen deaths every year from shark attacks.
4 – “Danger Island” South of Maldives in the western part of the Indian Ocean lies the Chagos Archipelago a series of coral islands long inhabited by the Chagos peoples. One of the smallest of these atolls is Danger Island, full of coconut trees that used to act as a reserve by the Chagos in the event food supplies run short. The island is full of wildlife, most significantly it is the home of two rare birds with fun names to say : brown noddies and red-footedboobies. The island isn’t actually as dangerous to modern day adventurers as its name suggests. The name is merely a holdover from ye olden times as when it was first mapped in the 19th century, seafarers found the coral reef and rocky shoals that surrounded it too treacherous to anchor their ships. Even with modern transportation the island is incredibly difficult to get to and navigate without risking damage. If you were too end up grounded or wrecked near Danger Island you would find yourself utterly isolated from the world and would especially in trouble if you were allergic to coconuts.
3 – “Tristan da Cunha” Almost 1800 miles east of South Africa is the British territory known as Tristan daCunha. Visiting this grassy circle shaped island that measures only 8 miles across can be incredibly daunting as the only way to reach it is by traveling seven days by boat. Because of this it once had the distinction of the being the most isolated yet still inhabited place on Earth. That was until the volcano that formed the island had enough of being host to humans and erupted in 1961, causing widespread devastation. Luckily because there were only a few inhabitants to begin with on Tristan da Cunha, the British were able to successfully relocate everyone to England before they could be wiped out. Slowly people have returned, the island is now home to around 270 locals who live life off-the-grid and farm to make ends meet all the while trying to forget that the volcano may evict them at a moments notice.
2 – “Bikini Atoll” The Marshall Islands are a series of atolls and islands that lie east of Guam in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The most famous of these islands is that of Bikini Atoll which although small helped shaped history, along the way becoming synonymous with the two-piece bathing suit and the atomic bomb. What was once a beautiful tropical locale is now a radioactive wasteland as Bikini Atoll was one of the main sites at which the United States military tested nuclear weapons. Though the island had a small indigenous population, they were all relocated to a nearby island in 1946 before testing commenced. The island has remained abandoned to this day aside from researchers studying the effects of radioactivity.
1 – “Hashima Island” If you head out to see traveling west from Nagasaki, Japan you will come across what appears to be a floating fortress, this is the island of Hashima aptly known by the nickname ‘Battleship Island’. Hashima was once one of the main sources of fuel for the Japanese military during World War II. The island was home to a coal mine and because of the sheer amount of workers (the majority of which being Korean and Chinese POWs and enslaved civilians) it was at one point the most densely populated place on Earth. However, a few years after the war the Japanese eschewed coal for oil and the mine was abandoned. Because there is no one to manage the giant housing buildings and other complexes they have fallen into severe disrepair and nature is slowly taking back the island. This has made the island extremely dangerous to traverse as the buildings and seawalls built to hold back vicious tsunami waves are crumbling all around. It is also believed that there may be unrecovered naval mines in the surrounding water.
If you had to choose one of these islands for your next vacation, which one would you choose?