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I'm dreaming of visiting remote islands such as St. Helena or the Kerguelen islands, but mostly don't get past the dreaming stage because I don't really know how to start making it happen. I think exchanging information and experiences with like-minded people would help me get started. Are there any special-interest communities or online resources that deal specifically with that topic?

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    @down-voter: please leave a short comment so I can improve my question - thanks :-)
    – Jan
    Jun 21, 2011 at 21:18
  • I love the idea of getting to these places as well. The remoter (is that a word?) the better. Good luck with your adventures
    – Ciaocibai
    Jun 21, 2011 at 22:54
  • I agree with silent1mezzo that eventually that is the intention of this site - you should ask your question here.
    – John Lyon
    Jun 24, 2011 at 3:47
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    See meta.travel.stackexchange.com/questions/40/… for an explanation of why I thought this question should be closed. Essentially, it's of the form "what other places have the answer to X". When you get that answer, all that's left here, on this page, is a stumbling block on the internet that gets between someone searching for X and the page that actually has the answer to X.
    – Joel Spolsky
    Jun 24, 2011 at 18:40
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    It'd be great if you asked something like, "How would one get to St. Helena" or "Are there hotels on St. Helena" or something that can actually be answered here.
    – Joel Spolsky
    Jun 24, 2011 at 18:41

2 Answers 2

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Here are two great communities for discussing travel and could definitely help you talk about different remote islands / travels. I think this place will also blossom into a great community so if you stick around I'm sure you'll have a great place to ask questions.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa

http://wateringhole.gapadventures.com/

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I suspect the only way to get to some of these places is by ship - neither of those you mentioned have any form of airstrip. I've only found one way to get to the Kerguelen islands, via a French tour operator, but it costs 15,000 Euros for the 28 day voyage. Working on a private sailing yacht that intend to visit one of these islands might be a better bet. Look at the Jamestown, St. Helena harbour on Google Maps, for example: enter image description here

I'd say you're more likely to get there by sailing adventure than by cruise or cargo ship. You can earn your keep on a sailing yacht by working as a crew member, and there are many good sites for finding yachts, including:

http://www.findacrew.net/

http://www.crewfile.com

http://www.crewseekers.net

As luck would have it, I wondered what the larger ship at the top of that picture of Jamestown harbour was, turns out it's the RMS St. Helena, a Royal Mail Postal ship. You can ride as a passenger from Cape Town, South Africa to St. Helena, and this looks to be the most trafficked way of getting there as a tourist. It doesn't look to be too expensive, either (A couple of thousand pounds rather than 15,000 Euros). Do note that the prices are in GBP.

St. Helena also has an official tourism site with a "how to get there" section. Most places with permanent residents will likely have a web presence of some kind.

Anyone wanting to visit St. Helena more quickly / cheaply / with less seasickness should note that they are also building an airport.

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  • Thanks for your answer! This information is certainly going to be helpful if I want to plan my trip to St Helena, but currently I'm really more on the lookout for sites with like-minded people to get inspired...
    – Jan
    Jun 24, 2011 at 12:03
  • I'm totally "in the same boat" so to speak. I've always had a fascination with remote islands!
    – Keyslinger
    Jun 29, 2011 at 16:46

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