Lost Lands & Hidden Isles: Top 5 Mysterious Islands You Should Know About

1. North Sentinel Island — The Island Lost in Time (India)

Located in the remote corners of the Andaman Sea, North Sentinel Island stands as one of the last untouched places on Earth. This dense, forested island is home to the Sentinelese, one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes, believed to have lived here for over 60,000 years without outside influence.

This island is a world by itself unknown language, unknown customs, unknown beliefs.

Why It Remains a Mystery

• The Sentinelese are extremely protective of their land and avoid all contact.
• No anthropologist has ever been able to study their culture in detail.
• We don’t know how they hunt, cook, build homes, or treat illnesses.
• Their ancestry dates back tens of thousands of years, yet they remained isolated.

Why It Fascinates the World

The island is fully covered with thick jungles, white-sand beaches, and turquoise waters but no human who enters these waters survives.
North Sentinel Island reminds us that not every place is meant to be explored, and some cultures must remain untouched for their own survival. It is, truly, a world frozen in time.

2. Socotra Island — Earth’s Most Alien-Looking Island (Yemen)

Socotra is often described as “the most alien place on Earth,” and the moment you see it, you understand why.
Located off the coast of Yemen, Socotra’s landscapes feel like something straight out of a science-fiction film.

The island’s isolation for millions of years has led to the evolution of bizarre, unique species found nowhere else.

What Makes It So Mysterious

• Dragon Blood Trees, with umbrella-shaped canopies and red sap
• Bottle Trees, thick and twisted like giant sculptures
• Glowing blue bioluminescent beaches
• Caves believed to hold prehistoric secrets
• Plants and animals that evolved in isolation for millions of years

Not only does Socotra look different it feels different. Even the wind carries a strange silence, as if whispering ancient stories hidden within its landscapes.

Why Travellers Are Drawn to It

Photographers, nature lovers, and wanderers visit Socotra not just to explore but to witness a version of Earth that seems untouched by time or humanity. Socotra shows us what the world might have looked like before civilization existed.

3. Easter Island — The Land of the Silent Stone Giants (Chile)

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is home to some of the most mysterious ancient structures in the world, the legendary Moai statues.
These enormous stone figures, carved more than 800 years ago, guard the island like silent watchers.

The Mystery Behind the Moai

• Over 900 statues, each weighing up to 80 tons
• Carved without metal tools
• Transported across hills and cliffs without wheels
• The civilization that built them suddenly disappeared
• No one knows why the statues were built by gods? ancestors? protectors?

Even today, engineers struggle to understand how ancient islanders moved these stone giants across kilometres of rough terrain.

The Spiritual Silence

Travellers describe Easter Island as a place filled with an unexplainable energy, a silence that feels sacred, heavy, and ancient.
The Moai face inland, as if watching over the people, preserving secrets that will never be uncovered.

4. Hashima Island — Japan’s Haunted Concrete Ghost Island

Once the most densely populated place on Earth, Hashima Island (Gunkanjima) now stands ghostly and abandoned.
Nicknamed Battleship Island because of its shape, it is one of Japan’s eeriest and most mysterious sites.

A City That Vanished Overnight

• In the 1900s, coal miners lived here in packed apartments
• Schools, playgrounds, and shops filled the narrow streets
• When the mines closed in 1974, everyone left instantly
• The island has been deserted ever since

What remains today is a concrete ghost town hollow buildings, broken windows, collapsing roofs, and empty corridors where time stands still.

The Mystery of Hashima

The structures are still intact but slowly being claimed by nature.
Visitors often describe the feeling as:
“Like walking through a frozen moment in history.”

Some believe there are still secrets inside the abandoned tunnels and rooms, preserved by time and silence.

5. Bermeja Island — The Island That Disappeared (Mexico)

Imagine an island appearing on maps for centuries… and then suddenly vanishing.
That is the case of Bermeja Island, one of the world’s greatest geographical mysteries.

What Makes Bermeja So Strange

• It was shown clearly on maps from the 16th–20th century
• Explorers documented its appearance and position
• Modern satellites and boats found nothing
• Some theories say it sank naturally
• Others believe it never existed; a cartographic illusion

And then there are conspiracy theories claiming the island was removed due to political and economic reasons.

A Ghost on the Map

How can an island exist for 400 years and then vanish?
No one knows and that’s exactly why Bermeja continues to fascinate historians and travellers.

Final Thoughts: A World Still Full of Mysteries

Even in the age of drones, satellites, and global tourism, these islands prove something important the world still holds secrets.
Islands that protect their tribes, lands that look alien, statues that defy engineering, cities frozen in silence, and islands that vanish without a trace… Each place is a reminder that Earth still carries stories beyond human understanding. For travellers, these hidden islands are not destinations, they are inspirations. Mysteries that spark curiosity, respect, and wonder.