Are you fascinated by the wild corners of the world, far from the usual tourist trails? Many people dream of places where nature remains the dominant force. This guide explores several lesser-known islands where the wildlife is not just present, but truly spectacular, offering some of the most breathtaking natural spectacles on the planet.
Often overshadowed by Antarctica, its famous southern neighbor, South Georgia is a remote, uninhabited island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Getting here requires a serious sea voyage, which is why it remains largely unknown to the general public. For those who make the journey, however, the reward is a wildlife spectacle of unimaginable scale. The island’s shores are so densely packed with animals that it’s often called the “Serengeti of the Southern Ocean.”
The stars of the show are the King Penguins. While many places have penguin colonies, South Georgia has cities of them. At St. Andrews Bay and Salisbury Plain, colonies of over 300,000 King Penguins stand shoulder-to-shoulder, their calls echoing across the glacial valleys. The sight of a quarter-million pairs of penguins raising their fluffy, brown chicks is an unforgettable experience.
Beyond the penguins, South Georgia is a critical breeding ground for seals. Massive Southern Elephant Seals, with males weighing up to 8,800 pounds, haul out on the beaches to battle for dominance. In the tussac grass, millions of Antarctic Fur Seals raise their pups. The air is filled with magnificent seabirds, including the Wandering Albatross, which has the largest wingspan of any bird on Earth, often exceeding 11 feet.
Located off the coast of Yemen, the island of Socotra is so isolated that a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on Earth. Its otherworldly landscape has earned it the nickname “the most alien-looking place on Earth.” While its unique flora gets most of the attention, its wildlife is equally fascinating and adapted to this strange environment.
The most famous resident is the Dragon’s Blood Tree, which bleeds a red sap and has a bizarre, umbrella-like shape. These trees form the habitat for many of Socotra’s unique animals. The island is a birdwatcher’s paradise with several endemic species, including the Socotra Starling, Socotra Sunbird, and Socotra Bunting. Because there are few native predators, the reptiles of Socotra are also unique, with many species of geckos and lizards found only here.
While it lacks the large mammals of other islands on this list, Socotra’s incredible wildlife is a lesson in evolution and adaptation. Its isolation has created a living laboratory where life has taken a unique and beautiful path.
Christmas Island is a tiny Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, located much closer to Indonesia than to mainland Australia. For most of the year, it’s a quiet, jungle-covered island. But once a year, usually around October or November, it becomes the stage for one of nature’s most incredible events: the annual red crab migration.
Triggered by the first rains of the wet season, an estimated 40 to 50 million Christmas Island Red Crabs emerge from their forest burrows and begin a synchronized march to the sea to breed. The entire island turns into a moving carpet of red. The scale is so immense that roads are closed and residents use special rakes and bridges to help the crabs cross safely. The sight of millions of crabs swarming over every surface, from beaches to backyards, is a truly astonishing spectacle.
Beyond the crabs, the island is also home to the Robber Crab, the world’s largest land-living arthropod. These giant coconut crabs can weigh up to 9 pounds and are powerful enough to crack open coconuts with their claws. The island’s rainforests are also a sanctuary for rare and endangered seabirds, like the Abbott’s Booby, which nests nowhere else on Earth.
Located in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, Lord Howe Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site for a reason. To protect its pristine ecosystem, the island strictly limits visitors to just 400 at any one time. This careful management has preserved a paradise that feels lost in time and has allowed its unique wildlife to flourish.
The island is home to the flightless Lord Howe Woodhen, a bird that was once on the brink of extinction. In the 1980s, only 15 individuals remained. Thanks to a successful captive breeding program, their population has recovered, and they can now be seen foraging calmly around the island.
The waters surrounding Lord Howe are just as incredible. The island is situated at a crossroads of five major ocean currents, creating a rare mix of tropical, subtropical, and temperate marine life. It is home to the world’s southernmost coral reef, which is vibrant and healthy. Snorkeling or diving here means swimming with over 500 species of fish and 90 species of coral, including the endemic Ball’s Pyramid Angelfish.
About 340 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica lies Isla del Coco, an uninhabited, jungle-covered island that inspired the fictional island in Jurassic Park. This remote outpost is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and access is strictly limited to researchers and a small number of liveaboard dive boats. The island itself is rugged and beautiful, but its true treasure lies beneath the waves.
Isla del Coco is renowned by scuba divers as one of the best places on the planet to see large marine animals. Its waters are a magnet for pelagic species, most famously the sharks. Divers regularly encounter enormous schools of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks, sometimes numbering in the hundreds.
It’s not just hammerheads. The surrounding ocean is a superhighway for marine life. Whale sharks, tiger sharks, silky sharks, Galapagos sharks, and whitetip reef sharks are all common sights. Giant manta rays glide through the water, and large schools of jacks and tuna create swirling vortexes. The sheer density and diversity of marine predators make Isla del Coco an underwater ecosystem of unparalleled energy and excitement.