10 Extraordinary Islands

Posted by yangga.8 | Travel/Places | Saturday 6 March 2010 9:30 am

What is it about islands that makes them so intriguing? Whether it’s a tropical speck in the midst of a vast ocean, or a tree-shrouded hummock in the river of a great city, it’s still somehow set apart, unique, proud, lonely, even mysterious. The waters around it ineffably define it, in a way that no plot of mainland can be defined. And because effort is required to get there — whether it’s simply driving across a bridge or chartering a private plane — once you’ve reached its shores, you know you’re somewhere different.

Our new book 500 Extraordinary Islands began to take shape as a sort of life list — how many islands have you been to, and which have you always dreamed of seeing? As our final list evolved — 500 is a lot of islands, but there were thousands of others we might have included — we found ourselves broadening the definition, expanding our concept of what makes an island alluring. But our main criterion was simple: We wanted to offer the 500 islands you’d most want to visit — or perhaps stay on forever. Here are 10 of the most interesting.