By: Hannah Hesford | December 11, 2025
If your compass always seems to point toward coastline — especially the kind with a bit of drama — you’ll understand the draw of these islands. They’re wild in all the best ways, with colours so vivid they feel one notch brighter than real life.
Think mountains dropping into azure water, coral flickering under the surface, forests meeting white sand. Extraordinary places like these don’t always make the headlines, but maybe that’s why they stay so special. Here are four wild islands we can’t wait to visit next year…
4. Tierra Bomba, Colombia
Where the Caribbean slows down.
A short skip from Cartagena and everything shifts. Isla Tierra Bomba is all warm water, shady palms and that soft, boho vibe that settles in before you’ve even unpacked.
Soft adventures here include, sea-breeze yoga, wandering through peaceful gardens, drifting into a snorkel session, hopping on a motorbike taxi to explore Bocachica’s sleepy lanes, or spending the day bouncing between the Rosario Islands — white sand, blue water, nothing complicated.
Tierra Bomba isn’t remote in the geographical sense (it’s not exactly undiscovered), but it’s effortlessly mellow. There’s a looseness to time on this island — breezy mornings, unhurried afternoons, and that easy bohemian feeling floating through it all. Close to Cartagena, yet somehow a world away.
3. Ishigaki Island, Okinawa
The coral edge of Japan
Far from the pace of Japan’s bonkers cities, Okinawa feels like a world of its own — a subtropical peppering of more than 160 islands fringed by white sand, cerulean water and dense, emerald-green forest. Once known as the Ryukyu Kingdom, this archipelago has its own history, language, and quiet sense of identity; traces of its past hang in the ruins of ancient castles and fortresses scattered across the islands.
Ishigaki sits among the southernmost isles, where the coral glows neon under the shallows and the water looks as if it’s been lit from beneath. Days here tend to unfold gently. Warm breezes, slow mangrove drifts, long horizons. And when the sun goes down, the sky shifts through gold, violet and rose, before the stars finally wander in.
2. Senja, Norway
Where mountains meet the midnight sun.
Senja — tucked high above the Arctic Circle in Norway — is one of those places that looks almost unreal. Dramatic peaks, still fjords, and pale-sand, tropical-looking beaches that could easily be confused for Neverland… right up until your toes meet the Arctic water.
Everything here feels elemental: cold water swims that wake you right up, steady hikes that end in wide quiet, long daylight that stretches the day beyond logic. And if you come during the midnight sun — our favourite time — the whole island is washed in soft gold. You can kayak through glowing fjords at hours when you’d normally be asleep, and it feels a little like drifting through a dream.
It’s a wildness that feels both cinematic and grounding — like the island is reminding you what awe feels like. Awe with a capital A.
1. Sumba Island, Indonesia
Sumba Island sits far from Indonesia’s usual tourist trails. On the edge of the Savu Sea, wild horses run along the shoreline at dusk, and the landscape shifts between dry grasslands, limestone ridges and long stretches of clear turquoise water. We know — it sounds like a made-up place. It isn’t. That’s just Sumba.
The island’s traditional villages, with their tall thatched rooftops, carry a strong sense of history and community. Nothing feels staged; it’s simply daily life unfolding in its own steady way.
It isn’t Bali — not even close. It’s raw, spacious, and unforgettable. And yes, you really can swim with horses here. It’s as incredible as it sounds.
Four extraordinary islands, each with their own kind of magic. Proof that wonder is still out there.
If one of these shores is calling, drop us a message — we’ll happily fill you in on the last spots or how payment plans work. And if you’d rather browse other wild corners of the world, take a look at our upcoming adventures.