ADVENTURE/ Small Islands with Distinctive Character

Thousands of islands attract tourists with their pristine nature and unspoilt environment. Discover several small islands where the travelers’ feet don’t tread very often – Les Îles de la Madeleine, Caldey Island, Cook Islands and many more.

ARTICLES

Discover the Authentic World of Les Îles de la Madeleine

James Morris

In the time of early dinosaurs, Quebec's Les Îles de la Madeleine (the Magdalen Islands in English) started a very long Atlantic migration from the Equator towards the north, eventually settling in Canada's Gulf of St Lawrence. Lying in a southwest/northeasterly direction, they consist of a dozen volcanic islands that form a 64-kilometer-long fishhook-shaped archipelago. Six of those islands are interconnected by long, thin dunes of fine cream-colored sand, all joined by paved roads and pi...

A Natural Escape: Franklin County’s Barrier Islands

Daniel A. Tanner

Many visitors to Florida get their first impressions of this state from watching movies or TV. They see the flash of Miami (south Florida) in such iconic television series as Miami Vice and CSI: Miami. Or on the wide screen in Marley and Me. Or they catch glimpses of the Orlando area (central Florida) in such flicks as Silent Night: Agent Down and Ocean’s Eleven. But unless they happen to catch Lonely Hearts, it is unlikely that the silver screen will give them a glimpse of northern Flo...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: An Emerging Eco-tourism Hotspot

Gary Diskin

The Andaman and Nicobar in India are a group of picturesque islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited, lying in the Bay of Bengal. They lie along an arc in long and narrow broken chain; approximately North-South over a distance nearly 800 km. Mother Nature has been very generous to these islands in endowing them with rich biodiversity which is displayed in various forms of flora and fauna on land and in water surrounding the islands. Pristine Nature and Green Forests Their uniquenes...

Caldey Island: Wales's Island Monastery

Justin N. Froyd

Caldey Island lies cradled in the South Pembrokeshire coast on the western fringes of Wales, 3 miles off Tenby. Derived from the Viking Keld-Eye meaning ‘Cold Island’, Caldey is one of Britain's holy islands. The World of Serenity More than a thousand years of prayer and quiet living has made this remote and beautiful island a haven of tranquility. Believed to have been inhabited since the Stone Age, Caldey was home to monks since Celtic times. Small boats ferry every 15 minutes (Monday-Satu...

Cook Islands: Caves, Cliffs and Makatea

Tomas Haupt

At the very centre of the Polynesian triangle, the Cook Islands consist of 15 islands scattered over some 2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered to the west by Tokelau, the Samoas and Nuie and to the east by Tahiti and the islands of French Polynesia. The islands north to south, are Penhryn, Rakahanga, Manihiki, Pukapuka, Nassau, Suwarrow, Palmerston, Aitutaki, Manuae, Mitiaro, Takutea, Atiu, Mauke, Rarotonga and Mangaia. With a land area of just 240 square kilometer...