10 Islands With Disturbing Secrets You Won't Believe

WatchMojo

Paradise isn't always what it seems... Join us as we explore the darkest histories behind some of Earth's most sinister islands! Our countdown includes places that served as prisons, quarantine zones, and sites of human experimentation. From doll-covered nightmares to deadly snake sanctuaries, these islands hide terrifying secrets beneath their scenic shores.

Transcript

00:00Not surprisingly, it's known as Snake Island, and it's probably the most dangerous place on the planet.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at islands on Earth with the most sinister backstories of all time.

00:12We're on our way to Jeffrey Epstein's infamous private island.

00:17Sentosa, Pulau Balakang Mati, Singapore.

00:21Living in Sentosa is a dream come true for me.

00:24If you visited Singapore, you may have stumbled upon this island.

00:28It's currently home to a Universal Studios theme park.

00:31It might surprise you to learn it's also called the island behind which death lies.

00:36It's unclear where it gets its name.

00:38Some believe it was due to it being a haven for pirates.

00:41Others think it was haunted.

00:42There's no consensus.

00:44The simplest explanation is that it shelters a stretch of water from wind, making it dead water.

00:49When the British Empire ruled Singapore, it was home to a military base of theirs.

00:54The island became much darker during World War II.

00:57When Japan invaded and made it a prisoner-of-war camp, with roughly 1,000 Allied troops, who

01:04were kept in poor conditions.

01:06Devil's Island, French Guiana.

01:09It was one of the most feared places on Earth.

01:15A colony of the damned.

01:17This island is currently a relaxing tourist destination.

01:21Centuries ago, it was a horrific penal colony where the French Empire sent thousands of prisoners.

01:26Between 1852 and 1953, 80,000 prisoners were sent there, with roughly 2,000 surviving.

01:38No one was intended to come back.

01:40It was a place where criminals went to vanish.

01:43Many died due to diseases, but deaths caused by men were also common.

01:47Few penal colonies, if any, had harsher punishments than here.

01:50This made a swift death more appealing than the alternative, which was called the dry guillotine.

01:57A vast majority of prisoners were falsely convicted, such as Alfred Dreyfus, who was sent there primarily

02:03because of French anti-Semitism.

02:05Alone on the island, except for a contingent of guards, Dreyfus was kept in a stone hut on

02:11the edge of the sea.

02:12Island of the Dolls, Mexico.

02:15Mexico's Isla de las Muñecas, or Island of the Dolls, is straight out of a horror movie.

02:20This is arguably the creepiest island on Earth you can visit right now.

02:24It's located in Mexico City, and its name comes from the vast quantity of dolls that cover the island.

02:30Roughly a century ago, its former owner, Don Julian Santana Barrera, started collecting dolls.

02:37Barrera hung them all across the island, which makes it look like something straight out of a horror flick.

02:41Barrera died in 2001, and since then, it's become a tourist attraction.

02:46Visiting it isn't as simple as boating over, though.

02:49A fair few rowers refuse to take people there due to its haunting nature.

02:53No one has confirmed if any of these dolls have come to life, but who's to say they haven't?

02:59Hashima Island, Japan.

03:01Once upon a time, in 1959, over 5,000 people lived on this Japanese island off the coast of Nagasaki.

03:11It used to be a coal mine during Japan's industrial era, but it became abandoned after running out of resources in the 70s.

03:19In the 30s, they began forcing Korean civilians and Chinese war prisoners to relocate to Hashima.

03:26There, they were forced to labor in brutal conditions, which led to most perishing on the island.

03:31Since 2009, tourists have been allowed to visit the haunting island.

03:35Most of its industrial concrete structures still stand, but they're in terrible condition and are slowly being reclaimed by nature.

03:42Little St. James, U.S. Virgin Islands.

03:57We're on our way to Jeffrey Epstein's infamous private island.

04:01Also known as Epstein Island, the full extent of this island's depravity is still unknown.

04:06It was owned by Jeffrey Epstein from 1998 until he died in 2019.

04:10It's believed a ton of his most egregious crimes took place on this island.

04:15Guy Domm says at the time, he assumed that the passengers were Epstein's wife and kids.

04:20It wasn't until later that he learned Epstein didn't have a family.

04:24It became a hotspot for his crimes against minors.

04:27It's believed that he invited many of his rich and powerful friends along.

04:30One of his victims, Virginia Roberts, claimed she was even abused by Prince Andrew on the island.

04:36Locals assert that this continued until 2019.

04:39Now it's owned by billionaire Stephen Deckhoff, who bought it for $60 million in 2023.

04:45He reportedly plans to turn it into a luxury 25-room resort.

04:49Clipperton Island, French Polynesia.

04:51That destination is four miles wide, a dot in the Pacific, and a week's sail away from civilization.

04:57This ring-shaped island lies roughly 700 nautical miles southwest of Mexico.

05:02It's owned by France, but no one lives there.

05:05That's not always been the case.

05:07Mexico once laid its claim on the island, forming a military colony there in 1905.

05:12The Mexican Revolution dominated the 1910s, and Clipperton Island fell on hard times in 1914.

05:19This led to most of the settlers perishing, alongside the rise of Victoriano Alvarez, who proclaimed himself king of the island.

05:27The lighthouse keeper turned tyrant, enslaved the island's women, and ruled for two whole years.

05:33One of these women eventually snapped and murdered the brutal dictator.

05:37Fortunately, an American gunboat noticed them one day in 1917, then rescued the 11 survivors, all women and children.

05:45Grinyard Island, or Anthrax Island, Scotland.

05:49This island is the key to some of the big secrets and what-ifs of 20th century history.

05:57This remote Scottish island might look quaint from afar, but it's hiding a deeply disturbing past.

06:03During World War II, Britain attempted Operation Vegetarian, which aimed to cover the German countryside with linseed cakes full of anthrax.

06:12It was ultimately abandoned in favor of Operation Overlord, but not after testing it out on Grinyard Island.

06:18The ambition was to develop a frightening new weapon.

06:22One involved putting 80 sheep on the island, then bombing them with anthrax.

06:27As you can expect, this contaminated the whole island, making it unfit for habitation for decades after.

06:33Anthrax is a naturally occurring, but deadly organism, and any outbreak can have fatal consequences.

06:41It was thankfully cleared up by 1990, after almost half a century of quarantine.

06:47North Sentinel Island, India.

06:50This island is potentially one of the most dangerous places in the world to visit.

06:54It's home to the world's most isolated community, the Sentinelese.

06:58We believe they've lived there for at least 50,000 years, with virtually no contact with the outside world.

07:04They're highly aggressive towards any visitors.

07:06This led to them killing fishermen in 2006, and a Christian missionary in 2018.

07:12Jesus said,

07:13My father has given me all authority over everything and everyone in heaven and on earth.

07:18There was a brief period of friendliness during the 90s, when Indian anthropologists gave the Sentinelese gifts.

07:24They returned to being hostile in the 2000s, and it's unclear why.

07:28Diseases may have spread to the islanders due to the gifts,

07:31or they may instead be angry that the gift-giving stopped.

07:34We'll likely never know.

07:36Maybe they want to steal their women or steal their children,

07:39because that's happened to them before in their history.

07:41Pavilion, Italy.

07:42There are a few places on this planet that you can read the history of and leave you wondering,

07:49how is this possible?

07:50How did all of this darkness happen in one place?

07:54This island lies a short sail south of Venice, and was first settled in the medieval era.

07:59Starting in 1776, it became Venice's quarantine island for roughly a century.

08:04This has made it a widely sensationalized place in recent years,

08:08with numerous myths being spread about it.

08:12I don't like it.

08:13For instance, many claim 160,000 plague victims were abandoned there,

08:18but this is an unconfirmed figure.

08:20It later became a geriatric hospital, which remained there until 1968.

08:25Since the early 2000s, it's become a popular spot for paranormal investigations.

08:29Many of the buildings remain, but Venice seeks to make it a locals-only island,

08:34allowing people to avoid the hordes of tourists.

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08:53Snake Island, Brazil

08:54It's probably the most dangerous place on the planet.

08:57As the name suggests, this island has a terrifying abundance of snakes.

09:01Estimates believe there are between 2,000 and 4,000 snakes on the island.

09:06It's home to some of Earth's most venomous snakes,

09:08having venom five times as potent as a mainland viper.

09:11It's home to the golden lancehead vipers, who live nowhere else.

09:16They're currently critically endangered,

09:18making it important that no one visits this island, barring officials.

09:21With these snakes, it will be a particularly painful death.

09:26You're going to die screaming.

09:28These endangered snakes are declining in population,

09:30largely because of illegal pet trading.

09:32So, this makes it one of the least appealing tourist destinations on Earth,

09:36with a very high chance of dying.

09:39If the signs don't warn you off,

09:41the residents will.

09:43All 4,000 of them.

09:45Were there any disturbing islands we failed to include?

09:47Let us know in the comments below.

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