When the ocean turns into a massive, blue bowl and you’re clinging to a splintered plank, spotting a speck of land can feel like a miracle. But imagine that “miracle” is actually a trap—an island that would make you wish you could swim back into the sea. Below are 10 islands you would definitely not want to be shipwrecked on.
Why 10 Islands You Should Steer Clear Of
Some stretches of water hide tiny specks that look like salvation, yet those specks often hide danger, history, or curses that turn a simple rescue into a horror story. Let’s explore each of these foreboding isles, from nuclear leftovers to snake‑infested rocks.
10 The Farallon Islands
Picture this: you’ve just been tossed off the San Francisco coast, waves pounding your battered lifeboat, and a cluster of rugged rocks appears on the horizon. Those are the Farallon Islands, a jumble of sea stacks just a short drift away.
The catch? Between 1946 and 1970, more than 47,800 drums of radioactive waste were secretly dumped in the surrounding waters. Those barrels are notoriously hard to locate and may still be leaching toxins into the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
On the upside, the islands themselves are mostly rock and scrub, and the fish that swim nearby could be a tasty, if slightly questionable, snack. Whether the seafood is contaminated is a gamble you probably don’t want to take.
9 Isla De Las Munecas
The odds of finding yourself adrift in the canals of Xochimilco, just south of Mexico City, are slim, but anything can happen—especially after a few too‑many drinks. Imagine the relief of seeing a tiny island and steering toward it for a breath of air.
Instead of sand and palm trees, you’re greeted by a macabre forest of dolls: heads on sticks, torsos dangling from trees, and eyes that seem to follow you. The eerie display stems from a tragic tale.
In the 1960s, caretaker Don Julian Santana Barrera discovered a drowned girl in the canal. Overcome with grief, he hung a floating doll on a nearby tree as a tribute. He kept adding more dolls, hoping to appease the child’s restless spirit.
Half a century later, Barrera himself vanished beneath the same waters, fueling the legend that the island is haunted. While the dolls might be unsettling, the island is otherwise harmless—unless you believe they whisper or stare.
8 Isola Della Gaiola
Imagine being hurled onto a sun‑kissed archipelago just off the Gulf of Naples. The Gaiola group consists of two small islets linked by a stone arch, only about 30 metres from the mainland—a perfect Instagram backdrop, if only you had a phone.
The islands host a crumbling villa that could serve as a makeshift shelter. Yet beneath the picturesque façade lies a string of misfortunes that have plagued every owner since the 1920s.
Hans Braun, the first modern owner, was murdered and wrapped in a rug; his wife later drowned. Subsequent proprietors—Otto Grunback, Maurice‑Yves Sandoz, Baron Karl Paul Langheim, Gianni Agnelli, Paul Getty, and Gianpasquale Grappone—met untimely deaths, bankruptcies, kidnappings, or imprisonments. The curse seems relentless.
So, if you ever find yourself stranded on Gaiola, you might want to question whether the island’s beauty outweighs its ominous legacy.
7 Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll looks like a postcard—pristine white sand, swaying palms, and crystal‑clear water. A shipwreck here would feel like a lucky break at first glance.
However, from 1946 to 1958 the United States conducted 23 nuclear tests on the atoll, including the massive Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb, which was roughly a thousand times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The native Bikinians were forced to relocate to nearby Kili Island, and the atoll remains contaminated. While the surrounding sea still supports fish that appear safe to eat, consuming coconuts or breadfruit grown on the islands would expose you to dangerous levels of radiation over time.
6 Ilha Da Queimada Grande
When most people think of a shipwreck, they imagine storm‑tossed decks and hungry sharks. On Brazil’s Ilha da Queimada Grande, the real threat slithers on the ground: up to 4,000 golden lancehead vipers, a venomous species found nowhere else on Earth.
Legend tells of a lighthouse keeper whose windows were breached by the snakes, leading to the death of his entire family. The Brazilian government now tightly controls access, requiring a doctor’s presence on any visit.
If you ever wash ashore on “Snake Island,” the smartest move is to scramble back into the sea before a viper decides you’re its next meal.
5 Plum Island
Stranded on Plum Island off Long Island’s coast, you might feel like you’ve stepped onto a secret‑agent’s hideout. The island hosts the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, a U.S. government facility that studies animal pathogens.
Its mysterious reputation is amplified by oddities such as the infamous Montauk Monster—a carcass that washed ashore in 2008 and was later identified as a raccoon. Conspiracy theories swirl around the research labs, suggesting hidden experiments.
Efforts to sell the island have faced legal challenges from environmental groups. Today, the island remains a fenced‑off enclave of foot‑and‑mouth disease research, with rumors of undisclosed experiments. You might leave with a feeling that something invisible is watching you.
4 North Sentinel Island
Picture rowing through the sparkling Bay of Bengal when a lone, mangrove‑covered speck appears on the horizon. As you draw nearer, a chorus of angry shouts erupts—an instant death sentence.
North Sentinel Island is home to the Sentinelese, one of the world’s last uncontacted peoples. Any outsider who lands there is met with lethal force; the tribe fiercely defends its isolation.
The Indian government enforces a 4.8‑kilometre exclusion zone around the island, both to protect the Sentinelese from disease and to keep visitors from a violent fate. Respect the boundary, or you may become a cautionary tale.
3 Miyakejima
If you happen to be shipwrecked off Japan’s Miyakejima, you’ll quickly discover that the island’s most valuable souvenir is a gas mask.
The tiny town sits directly beneath an active volcano that constantly belches sulfuric fumes. Local law mandates that residents—and any visitor—carry a mask at all times. When the air quality plummets, even the masks can’t always keep the toxic gases at bay, prompting full evacuations.
So, unless you’ve packed an extra mask or can borrow one from a fellow castaway, the island’s beautiful scenery comes with a very literal breath‑of‑fresh‑air warning.
2 Gruinard Island
Landing on Scotland’s Gruinard Island might feel like stepping onto a quiet, grassy plain—if you ignore the faint scent of danger.
During World War II, British scientists dropped “dirty bombs” filled with the virulent anthrax strain Vollum 14578 onto the island’s sheep population. The disease turned the island into a biological hazard, forcing the military to abandon it.
In the 1980s, activist group Operation Dark Harvest scattered contaminated soil across the UK to pressure authorities into decontaminating Gruinard. A massive cleanup began in 1986, and by 1990 the island was declared safe.
Since then, the resident test sheep have remained anthrax‑free, with the last recorded case in 2007. Still, the memory of a once‑lethal island lingers, making it a less‑than‑ideal place to wash ashore.
1 Ramree Island
You need to step back in time. Your ship has been bombed in the Bay of Bengal, and you have to swim for the nearest land you can see. You make it. Your waterproof map that you hastily stuffed in your pocket tells you that you are on Ramree Island
Just swim for your life. Turn around. Get picked up by the enemy—just swim.
Ramree is a large island that sits off the coast of Burma. It is relatively tame now, but back in World War II, it was allegedly the stage for the largest massacre of humans by animals in recorded history. Japanese troops who were holding the island of Ramree in 1945 became engaged in fierce conflict with Allied troops, who were determined to take the island. Nearly 1,000 of the Japanese soldiers ran through the swampland to reach more of their cohort on the other side of the island.
The mosquito‑bitten solders, hungry and thirsty, were eaten alive by giant saltwater crocodiles. As the Allied troops waited to capture surrendering Japanese soldiers, they were horrified at the sounds of the massacre. According to some reports, only 20 soldiers survived and were captured, terrified beyond belief at the carnage they had witnessed.
So if you find yourself shipwrecked on Ramree Island in the 1940s, you really need to hop back in your time machine and get out of there.