The world’s most beautiful and unusual islands

These beautiful islands are hard to go past when organising your travels, yet unlike many of their picturesque counterparts, they’re just a little bit quirky and unusual!

Santorini, Greece

The island of Santorini, once known as ‘Thira’, is one of the most sought-after places to visit in the Aegean, with beautiful ocean views, amazing, postcard cliffs and a party-going nightlife to boot. But perhaps what makes this island so unusual is that, thanks to years of volcanic evolution, its sand is made up of different colours in different spots: you can find beaches covered in white sand, red sand and – most famously – black sand.

Monuriki Island, Fiji

If you’ve ever visited Fiji, you know how beautiful the islands there can be. Monuriki Island in the Mamanuca group stands out due to its tiny size and also because it featured as the island Tom Hanks was stranded on in the flick ‘Cast Away’ (Wilson!). Now, Cast Away tours are ever-popular here and the island is known as much for the film as it is for its beauty. It’s also one of the few islands in the world where you’ll find the highly endangered Fiji crested iguana.

Jicaro Island, Nicaragua

Jicaro Island is an island complete with tranquil waters, swaying palms and a bundle of activities to stimulate relaxation. So what’s so unusual about this place? Jicaro Island can’t be found in any ocean; it’s actually located on Lake Nicaragua, which sits in the southwest region of the country.

Palm Islands, Dubai

The Palm Islands in Dubai are considered one of the world’s most luxurious representations of the Middle East and the most unusual thing about these two beauties is that they are completely man-made! As one of the UAE’s many tourism-boosting projects, the Palms were created by taking sands from the ocean floor and shaping them into islands that resemble palm trees (hence the name). Most impressively, the whole venture just about doubled the length of the coast of Dubai.

Vulcan Point Island, The Philippines

Can you say, “an island, within a lake, within a volcano, within a lake, within an island” 10 times really fast? Vulcan Point Island is a breathtaking stroke of genius by mother nature, who created this island (Vulcan Point) in the Main Crater Lake, which itself sits within Volcano Island, which sits happily on Lake Taal, which is located on Luzon Island in the Philippines. It might be confusing, but it’s still beautiful!

Pitcairn Island, UK

If you’ve ever wanted to know which island in the world has the most isolated jurisdiction and also the best honey, just head to Pitcairn. This island is located in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Australia and South America, and contains a whopping population of … 70 people. Most unusually, though, everyone here is a descendent of the mutineers of the ‘Bounty’ and the Tahitians that came with them. Yikes!

Spratly Islands, South China Sea

You wouldn’t think it, but the South China Sea contains some of the world’s most beautiful islands, atolls and coral reefs. This boomerang-shaped island is situated in the Spratly archipelago and is a favourite sight for those flying over the area. What’s equally as unusual about it, however, is that these reefs can easily change their shape depending on the season and the flow of the ocean’s currents.