18 best-kept island secrets

7. ILE DE RE
There are secrets, and then there are secrets. Île de Ré qualifies as the latter — it’s been witness to the full history of France’s human occupation. But when savvy Parisians need to escape, Île de Ré is where they go. This enchanting island off La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast of France is rife with history — forts, castles, haunted lighthouses, crumbling abbeys. Here beach life predominates, and the daily pace moves with the measured tempo of an ambling bicycle along more than 60 miles of bike paths. Cruise through captivating towns such as Rivedoux-Plage, La Flotte and Saint-Martin-de-Ré, all built around fishing harbors with postcard-perfect 16th- and 17th-century fortifications that once kept pirates and the English at bay. Browse markets teeming with flowers, fruit, oysters, vin from local vineyards and pineau, a regional specialty similar to sherry. At night, Île de Ré becomes France’s music island, as almost every experience involves sensual, folksy, historic and/or modern beats. www.iledere.com.

PACIFIC OCEAN

8. SOLOMON ISLANDS
Scattered across 500,000 square miles of aquamarine Pacific Ocean are the  922 islands known as the Solomons. This is a mystical land of mist-enshrouded rainforest, volcanoes, World War II shipwrecks and skull shrines (the Solomons were infamous headhunting grounds in the 19th century). The islands are riven with waterfalls, and the saltwater lagoon, Marovo, was described by James Michener as the eighth wonder of the world. The Western Province of the Solomons, where Marovo Lagoon, New Georgia, Ghizo and many other islands and atolls are located, is the most-visited area. Keep the numbers in perspective, though: The entire island chain only gets 4,000 visitors per year. Don’t miss Skull Island, where you can see a shrine adorned with shell money and the skulls of warriors and chiefs. Also nearby is volcanic Simbo Island, where the megapode bird incubates its eggs in the heat of volcanic sands. Go for a walk in the bush, take a look at woodcrafts such as nguzunguzu (a carving placed on the hull of a war canoe), and be sure to go underwater.  www.visitsolomons.com.sb. More about the Solomon Islands on ISLANDS.com.

9. NIUE
“Behold the coconut!” is what one of the original Tongan, Samoan or Cook Island settlers supposedly exclaimed upon seeing Niue, giving the island its name (niue means the aforementioned phrase). They were surprised that a rocky island roughly 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand, with cliffs rising 60 feet straight from the sea, could support coconut palms — and thus habitation. Today we proclaim, “Behold Niue!” This is where, in fall, visiting whales outnumber visiting humans. A quarter of the island is covered in virgin rainforest, and caves and coves gnaw the coastline, all waiting to be explored (until the mid-1800s the islanders lived in these caves). Although there are roughly only 2,000 residents, you’ll find many are well-versed naturalists who will guide you through the mysteries of the rainforest, take you on reef walks and show you the most stunning underwater cave system in the South Pacific. Come to Niue during one of its 14 annual village days and watch the women weave baskets, and then nibble on delicacies cooked in an earth oven called an umu. www.niueisland.com.

10. POHNPEI
One of the world’s greatest mysteries awaits on Pohnpei, the largest island in the wide Pacific sweep of the Federated States of Micronesia. The ancient ruins of Nan Madol, massive structures made of stacked basalt “logs” surrounded by manmade channels, have often been called the Venice of the Pacific. Nan Madol once had a thriving civilization, though no one knows when it was built or when its inhabitants left. Exploring Pohnpei, a lush island covered with waterfalls and rainforests, one is hard-pressed to explain why anyone would want to leave this idyllic place. Trek to Mount Nahna Laud, the island’s highest point at 2,600 feet, and you’ll be treated to a view of the coral reef that surrounds the almost perfectly circular island as well as dozens of rivers and waterfalls. The green foliage, flowers and such striking scenes as Kepirohi, Sawarlap and Liduduhniap falls are breathtaking. But to get to the core of the culture and its legends, you should accept the invitation of the friendly locals and join them around the ceremonial sakau bowl, an experience unique to Pohnpei. A few cups of this tingly brew and you may be well on your way to discovering the secrets of this island of mystery. www.visit-fsm.org/pohnpei.

11. AMAMI
For a place that even most Japanese people aren’t familiar with, Amami Island, about 170 miles south of Japan, packs a punch on the cultural and natural aspects of island adventures. Most of the world doesn’t know much about the southern Japanese islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago (which includes Amami), stretching from Kyushu to Okinawa. Because of Amami’s relative isolation, the traditional culture of living harmoniously with nature emanates from all aspects of life on this island where Japan and Polynesia meet. Amami’s hills are covered in subtropical forests, and its endemic potpourri has earned the island the nickname “Japanese Galapagos.” Its coral reefs are on the World Wildlife Fund’s Global 200 eco-regions list; there’s a mysterious and primitive rabbit that exists only on Amami and is classified in Japan as a “national monument”; and there are rare endemic thrushes, colorful Ryukyu robins, Lidth’s jays, Amami woodpeckers and Ryukyu scops owls. Of course, people live here, too, and Amami is world-famous for its kimonos made of pongee silk. Travelers can see them during summer festival-season parades and watch silk artisans practice doro-zome dyeing, a process done primarily on Amami. Plan your trip around the plethora of festivals and traditional dances that rule the island’s social calendar. The pageantry and rituals of the Harvest and Yonshi Dance and Yagoro-don effigy festival are rarely seen outside these islands. www.jnto.go.jp.

12. RURUTU
Hidden away in the Austral Islands of French Polynesia, about 340 miles south of Tahiti, Rurutu preserves a Polynesia tradition that has all but vanished elsewhere in this island nation. Every year during the Tere ritual, the entire population makes a pilgrimage around the 34-square-mile island, stopping at many of the historical marae, or sacred sites (the best-preserved exist at Pareopi and Vitaria). Go there in July when, during the Tahitian Heiva holiday festival, the inhabitants of Rurutu compete in the ancient sport of stone lifting. It’s like watching a local strongman competition with theme music. Should you come any time from August through October, watch the humpback whales that migrate to these electric-blue waters to give birth to their young, or better yet, snorkel with them. Typically, the mother will rest on the seafloor while the curious calves frequently rise to the surface to breathe. If you’ve never experienced the majesty of a whale in the water, hearing its whale song pass through your body is a breathtaking and life-changing moment. Like Rurutu itself, the memory of the experience will be unforgettable. www.tahiti-tourisme.com.

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