18 best-kept island secrets

By Staff

updated 1:40 p.m. ET June 7, 2006

ISLANDS magazine searched the seven seas and found that while it may be a small world, the globe is definitely a big place, full of surprising and mysterious islands to discover and explore.

How many palm trees are there in the world with nary a soul relaxing under them? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Millions? We traveled to 20 hidden spots on the globe — from Caribbean and European seas to the Pacific and Indian oceans — and we dutifully noted places palms stand alone. We’ll tell you where you can still find a beach to yourself and an authentic island experience. (By the way, we also had the common sense to keep some secrets to ourselves.)

CARIBBEAN SEA

1. LITTLE CORN ISLAND
Just 45 miles off the eastern shore of Nicaragua is drumstick-shaped Little Corn Island, population 800. How has it remained unspoiled for so long? Sure, there are stretches of empty Caribbean beach, $5 lobster dinners that are de rigueur, hammocks that sway gently in the trades beneath palms and enviable tarpon and bonefishing. But to get here you have to be adventurous, taking the half-hour trip from Big Corn Island in an open boat. Then there’s the lack of paved roads and night life — well, except for Happy Hut, a dirt-floor reggae bar. Well, no wonder it has remained a secret. Can you even imagine spending your days trying to brush the white powdery sand out of your skin’s creases, or hours eating home-cooked Italian meals at Farm Peace and Love, or nights in colorful cabanas where the only sound to lull you to sleep is tree frogs and surf? Nah. It would be maddening. But Casa Iguana will hold one of its colorful, simple stilted cabanas for you if you dare. www.casaiguana.net.

2. PROVIDENCIA
Although it is closer to the coast of Nicaragua, the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina belongs to Colombia, whose Caribbean coast lies 480 miles southeast. San Andrés is the largest of the three islands and gets the most attention from tourists. But 56 miles north of the big island is Providencia, a secret hot spot that has become the favored escape for Colombian cognoscenti. You’ll get your taste of the traditional Caribbean here: beaches, seafood and locals who are of European and African descent. The English Puritans set up shop here in the 1600s, using Providencia to raid the Spanish during the colonial period and as a base for selling tobacco and hides to Dutch traders. The islands also were prime pirating ground. Providencia has one of the Americas’ largest coral reefs, which has recently been designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. On Providencia, stroll down the romantically named Lover’s Lane, a wooden bridge that connects the island to Santa Catalina and its 300 inhabitants. On this tiny island is the pirate Henry Morgan’s fort, where you can see the famous brigand’s cannons. www.san-andres.com

3. MONA ISLAND
Forty-two miles off the west coast of Puerto Rico, Mona Island offers intrepid travelers as many bragging rights as those more-distant island getaways. You won’t find any high-end resorts on this flat, rocky island unless you bring your own yacht — or consider a North Face four-man tent an escapist’s luxury. The payoff here is an authentic, pristine Caribbean island two hours from Miami. Pull a telescope out at night and go constellation crazy when the sky darkens thick and heavy over your head, pregnant with stars you probably didn’t even know existed. As the sun rises, grab your snorkeling gear, because this is where Mona Island will ignite your inner explorer. One quick glance through the looking-glass surface will reveal a seascape rich with thickets of black coral trees and massive sponges that provide shelter to more than 270 species of marine life. Oceans Unlimited provides camping excursions to Mona Island. www.oceans-unlimited.com.

EUROPE’S OCEANS

4. GIGLIO
This island, off the west coast of Italy in the Tyrrhenian Sea, has been owned by the town of Perugia, the town of Pisa and even the famous Medici family of Florence. It has been inhabited since the Stone Age, was attacked by both the Saracens and the dread pirate Barbarossa and used as a military outpost by everyone from the Etruscans to the Romans to the Abbey of Fontane. But it was under the rule of Pisa in the 13th century that the magnificent medieval walled town of Giglio Castello was built. Meander this world of romantically narrow streets, archways, ramparts, external stairs, holy relics and hidden piazzas. Sample the lovely local amber wine and hike through the hills to do some bird-watching. Trek to Giglio Porto, which overlooks a bay renowned for its clear waters. For a small place (even most Italians haven’t heard of it) with such a lengthy history of habitation, it’s surprising that about 90 percent of the island still remains relatively unspoiled and bucolic. Giglio is that rare treasure of an island that has remained hidden in plain sight. www.isoladelgiglio.it.

5. ISLE OF ARRAN
Standing on the rocky cliffs that form the coastline of the Isle of Arran, it’s easy to see why the island’s slogan is “Scotland in Miniature.” The island, a one-hour ferry ride from Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, lets you enjoy all of what Scotland has to offer — desolate heaths, Celtic hills, castles and the taste of local scotch — within a smaller space. Wander the vast halls and misty gardens of Brodick Castle, at the foot of Goatfell Mountain. Dating back to the 16th century, the castle now houses artwork and sculpture collected by the various dukes and duchesses who lived in the red sandstone edifice. Tour the mystical Machrie Moor, where you will see several stone circles, and standing stones that are over 18 feet tall. While no one knows their true purpose, the stones are tied to myths of giants roaming the land. Who else would be capable of erecting such monuments? Before nightfall, warm yourself up at the Isle of Arran Distillers; the single-malt made there is a perfect precursor to a dinner of wild salmon, for which the island is known. www.visitscotland.com. More about Scotland on ISLANDS.com.

6. SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
Word about São Tomé & Principe, a two-island nation that sits 150 miles off Equatorial Guinea on the western coast of Africa, is rippling through the islands travel world like a wild banshee. It’s safe, lushly exotic, exquisitely tropical and almost completely undiscovered. Plus, just being able to say you’ve been there or know about it gives you some major bragging rights. Sure that’s some high-handed hyperbole, but these islands on the equator have everything adventurous travelers could dream of: stream-riddled and mist-shrouded jungles crowded with more than 700 species of plants, including one-of-a-kind orchids and begonias the size of beach balls; 15 species of birds found only on these islands (including the São Tomé grosbeak, which is seen about once every 100 years); and diving and snorkeling in waters that are virtually unexplored. São Tomé is also ringed with apathy-inducing beaches, which you will likely have all to yourself. www.sao-tome.com.

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