# Questions about living on an uninhabited island **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378 "2005-02-16T18:05:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/1 "2005-02-16T18:05:55Z")
I’ve always dreamed of finding a nice, isolated, tropical island with nobody living on it and establish a residence there. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life there, but it would be nice to try a year of complete solitude. Naturally, I have some questions about this. 1. Is it even possible, in this day and age, to find an uninhabted island? A real island that a human being could sustain himself on, not a 10 foot across plot of sand with a single coconut tree. 😛 2. Is there anything illegal about this? Can an American citizen legally just “up and leave” the country on a boat to an unspecificed destination for an unspecified period ot time? 3. What should I bring along to help me survive (besides the obvious food and drink)? ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/2 "2005-02-16T18:09:32Z")
It’s impossible to live on an uninhabited island. The best you’ll be able to do is to find a _previously_ uninhabited island. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/3 "2005-02-16T18:17:27Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > 1. Is there anything illegal about this? Can an American citizen legally just “up and leave” the country on a boat to an unspecificed destination for an unspecified period ot time? Under US law, you can leave the US at any time. But you might find that any habitable island has already been claimed by some other country, so you might want to check up on that country’s immigration laws. And if the island is actually owned by a private individual, they might want to eject you from their island as a trespasser. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/4 "2005-02-16T19:22:34Z")
There’s no need to leave the USA to find [uninhabited islands:](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98531&page=1) > [@](#): > > Except for a few scattered native American villages, and an occasional U.S. military installation, the Aleutians are uninhabited. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/5 "2005-02-16T19:22:39Z")
There are islands for sale in the Florida Keys like you describe, but most, if not all, are within sight of the main section of islands. [This one](http://www.privateislandsonline.com/piratescoveforsale.htm) was listed at $5.2 million, but there are others like in Belize and in the Pacific Rim. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/6 "2005-02-16T19:39:31Z")
There’s a lot of islands in the Pacific too small to sustain a permanent population. A good number of them also belong to the US. I don’t remember the names of them, but I think Johnston Atoll may be one of them. Some of them do have weather stations or are wildlife refuges, though. Moving in may be legally problematic since they’re considered gov’t property of the various nations that claim them. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/7 "2005-02-16T19:47:16Z")
If you are looking at islands that are not in or near US waters you also have to worry about pirates. In some places the problem is rather serious. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/8 "2005-02-16T19:57:33Z")
You might see if the island that [this guy](http://www.janesoceania.com/suvarov_tom_neale/) lived on is still uninhabited. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/9 "2005-02-16T20:08:53Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > It’s impossible to live on an uninhabited island. The best you’ll be able to do is to find a _previously_ uninhabited island. Uninhabited doesn’t mean no one has ever lived there, just that no one is living there now. So there are many thousands of islands worldwide that are uninhabited. There are plenty of uninhabited islands in Panama, from a few acres up to several hundred. I don’t know what you mean by “sustain yourself,” but you could certainly camp there and meet much of your needs by fishing. You could also gather coconuts. Construct a cistern and you could probably enough rainfall to have drinking water during the dry season. You would of course have to get some kind of extended visa from Panama to stay there for any length of time legally. Many of these islands are either government property or private property. Some islands that are government property may also have land claims by locals who may not actually reside there. You would probably have to get some kind of permission from somebody to stay there, but it might be possible to work something out. I don’t think you would be able to have complete solitude, since there is a fair bit of small boat traffic by locals in most of the island areas. But you might be able to get away with only an occasional curious visitor. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/10 "2005-02-16T20:55:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Uninhabited doesn’t mean no one has ever lived there, just that no one is living there now. So there are many thousands of islands worldwide that are uninhabited. I’m sticking to my guns. You can’t live on an uninhabited island. This is kind of a joke. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/11 "2005-02-16T20:57:53Z")
I think **Hyperelastic** was saying is that as soon as the OP moves there, the island is no longer uninhabited. Check out [http://www.vladi-private-islands.de/home\_e.html](http://www.vladi-private-islands.de/home_e.html) Several islands for sale / rent. Tho theses islands are already part of some country’s territory. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/12 "2005-02-16T21:16:27Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I’m sticking to my guns. You can’t live on an uninhabited island. This is kind of a joke. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/13 "2005-02-16T21:56:59Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > You might see if the island that [this guy](http://www.janesoceania.com/suvarov_tom_neale/) lived on is still uninhabited. I loved that book _(An Island to Onesself)_ as a kid and often fantasized about visiting Suwarrow (Suvarov) and doing what he did. It’s not exactly uninhabited…there’s a research station there that is intermittently occupied and it is occaisionally visited by yachting types. By the way, some seriously kickass cyclones have been hitting the Cooks of late. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-living-on-an-uninhabited-island/290378/14 "2005-02-16T22:19:15Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > You might see if the island that [this guy](http://www.janesoceania.com/suvarov_tom_neale/) lived on is still uninhabited. Thanks, MikeS. That is a wonderful link!