A breath of fresh air: Get away from it all on an adventure to remote St Helena
Your full travel guide
A tiny wilderness-wrapped pinprick floating in the middle of the Atlantic with the island of Ascension its nearest neighbour more than 1,000km away, St Helena is about as remote an island can get. So, there’s nowhere better to unplug, head off-grid and escape the daily grind by exploring this unspoiled land…
Hit the trails
With minimal air and light pollution, St Helena is a pristine paradise where a tapestry of microclimates have flourished. Treading one (or more) of the island’s 21 Post Box Walks will weave you between multi-hued hills, barren cliffs and Jurassic Park-like jungle – here are five of the best.
1. Diana’s Peak
At 820m, Diana’s Peak isn’t only St Helena’s loftiest spot but it’s also home to the South Atlantic’s highest post box. Steep but surprisingly straightforward, you’ll climb through cloud forest comprising 250 endemic species of flora and fauna including black cabbage trees crawling with species such as spiky yellow woodlice and pink blushing snails. Diana’s Peak is a trio of mountains you’ll summit (Mount Actaeon and Cuckold’s Point being the other two) along the way, with all three granting island-wide vistas and – if it’s a clear day – the Atlantic beyond.
2. Lot’s Wife’s Ponds
Laying St Helena’s rich geological history bare, Lot’s Wife’s Ponds is a walk loaded with natural drama. For starters, you’ll navigate the wind-blasted coast of Sandy Bay before treading past the trail’s eponymous volcanic rocky stacks of Lot and his wife. Step across a knee-knocking ridge that’s striped with multi-hued layers of geological eons under your feet and weave past ground-nesting masked boobies as you canter downhill to the shimmering seawater ponds. Don your swimming gear for a dip with Sally Lightfoot crabs and iridescent fish.
3. Blue Point
Admire some of the island’s finest coastal panoramas on this Post Box Walk, initially tracing the ridge of the Gates of Chaos gorge. The ominous name is a misnomer, with the gentle gradient serving up fine views over Sandy Bay before snaking past restored habitats of endemic scrubwood and rosemary. These wild patches signal the start of your ascent up 600m-high Blue Point, a peak that rewards you with eye-popping widescreen views of Manati Bay and several sawtooth islets such as the Black Rocks, Castle Rock and Speery Island.
4. Heart-shaped Waterfall
Convenient and enchanting in equal measure, this Post Box Walk finishes at one of St Helena’s 'Seven Wonders', the Heart-shaped Waterfall. Handy as it’s the closest trail to the island’s capital Jamestown, it’s also short and sweet – ideal for walkers of all abilities. The walk starts at Drummond's Point from where you can take a stroll through leafy scenery to the bottom of the waterfall. Stand on the wooden viewing platform here to look up at the the 90m-tall waterfall leaking from the heart-shaped rock (hence the name). Try and reserve this walk for between St Helena’s winter downpours (June to August) to see the waterfall at its fullest.
5. Flagstaff
From one of St Helena’s well-known walks to a real local favourite. However, we’re not surprised the islander's love Flagstaff trail so much, as it highlights the island’s fine history, landscapes and wildlife in one tread. You’ll walk through the wildflower meadows of Deadwood Plain (keeping a keen eye out for endemic Wirebirds), spy the remains of a former Boer War Prisoner of War Camp and end on a clifftop 700m above sea level (around twice the height of the Eiffel Tower), with the deep azure of the Atlantic one way and verdant rolling countryside the other.
Go wild
A tiny 47-square-mile wild parcel, St Helena is less than one third the size of the Isle of Wight yet boasts more than 30% of the endemic biodiversity found in the UK and its territories. Here are five ways to immerse yourself in St Helena’s nature…
1. Plant a tree
In a bid to reverse the damage done by timber-hungry British settlers in the 17th century, the Millennium Forest is a project led by the Saint Helena National Trust to reforest an area that was once known as the Great Wood. Since the forest was established at the turn of the millennium, around 6,000 endemic gumwood trees have been successfully planted, and the trust hopes to plant 55,000 more in an area stretching 250 hectares. You can play your part by planting your own tree and helping contribute to making the Great Wood, great again.
2. Go birdwatching
A fierce source of national pride, the Wirebird (also known as the St Helena Plover) is not only the island’s national bird but its only remaining endemic bird species. It’s a must spot when you’re there – typically found ground-nesting among the dry pastures of Deadwood – but it’s not the only spot. Inland there are cardinals, mynahs, white terns, waxbills and Java sparrows, while offshore you can spy noddies, boobies and petrels circling sea stacks and rocky islets along the rugged coastline of St Helena.
Pause to listen
Birds – mostly terns and mynahs – going to nest in the tress at sunset is one of the most popular and memorable sounds on St Helena.
3. Meet Jonathan the tortoise
A wildlife experience that’s more genteel than intrepid but it’s not every day you have the chance to meet the world’s oldest known living land animal. Meet 190-year-old Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise who plods around the landscaped lawns of Plantation House, the residence of St Helena’s governor. He is so old, in fact, that he was this year was awarded a second Guinness Book of World Records title: The oldest chelonian to have ever lived. A guided tour of the mansion and its grounds will give you the opportunity for an up close and personal meeting with Jonathan but also with the three other giant tortoises there, David, Emma and Fredricka, too.
4. Volunteer your time
The Millennium Forest is only one part of St Helena’s conservation story and locals are keen to safeguard the island’s fragile endemic habitats and wildlife that still remain as part of its patchwork landscape. You can get stuck in by volunteering for projects that are designed to help protect and encourage the island’s nature to flourish. Assist with laying camera traps to monitor Wirebird predation, help stamp out invasive species and take part in marine conservation programmes.
The St Helena Cloud Forest Project is always appreciative of extra pairs of hands. This is an ambitious project to restore the 81 hectare Peaks National Parks, which is home to the last remaining cloud forest on British soil. Animal lovers, meanwhile, can help with walking donkeys and cleaning out their stables. You might even pass a local person leading a working donkey carrying goat feed on your way.
5. Enjoy a digital detox
Where better to unplug from the world around you than at the seaside? And with many coastal locations far away from WIFI and signal on St Helena, there are many options here to choose from. Pack your tent and a picnic for a remote overnight escape to the black sand of Sandy Bay Beach. Or why not cook up a barbecue in a cave over at Lemon Valley? This remote spot can be reached on foot, or on a short ferry ride from James Bay. Have your snorkel at the ready and spend your days in and out of the water, before bedding down in the little camping house here that’s available to rent.
Swimming and snorkelling are also popular at Rupert’s Bay where a small manmade beach allows you to sink your toes into white sand and public barbecues make cooking lunch a breeze.
Make a splash
Being surrounded by the big blue of the Atlantic, St Helena boasts an ocean’s worth of marine adventure beneath the waves. Between December and March, St Helena’s shores are visited by whale sharks and for a life-affirming encounter, you can swim alongside them in the warm, high-visibility water to get up close and personal with these gentle giants. It will certainly be unique: it’s the only known place in the world where males and females frequent in equal numbers. Whale sharks may be St Helena’s marine headliners but there is plenty more life beneath the waves. Diving experiences are also aplenty, with scuba sites around the island taking you to coral-encrusted rocky reefs. James Bay is one of its finest, where you can glide among green and hawksbill turtles, devil rays and tropical fish like the endemic deepwater jack and the wonderfully named bastard five finger. Dip below the surface on St Helena’s leeward side and you can dive among myriad shipwrecks, including the drug-running trawler Frontier and 17th-century Dutch cargo ship Witte Leeuw. Above the waves, fishing is also a popular pastime with locals and organised expert-led trips mean you can reel in dorados, tuna and groupers from boats or on the coastline. And don't miss a chance to head out on a boat or kayak to combine bird, dolphin and humpback whale watching, depending what time of year you visit.
Swim with whale sharks (Beth Taylor)
Swim with whale sharks (Beth Taylor)
Swim with devil rays (Beth Taylor)
Swim with devil rays (Beth Taylor)
Fishing at Westrocks (Ed Thorpe)
Fishing at Westrocks (Ed Thorpe)
Dive among shipwrecks (Expert Tours)
Dive among shipwrecks (Expert Tours)
Go back in time
For such a small island, St Helena boasts a rich heritage that touches diverse points in history and its sheer remoteness has ensured their imprints have endured. From the Boer War to the Georgians, here are five ways you can explore the island’s intriguing past.
1. 'Liberated African' history
Between 1840 and 1872, more than 25,000 enslaved Africans were taken from ships to St Helena by the British Navy in an attempt to stop the slave trade. Those who tragically lost their lives were not taken home, but were buried on St Helena, and the island is considered the world’s most significant physical remaining trace of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. More than 8,000 men, women and children were buried in the hillsides and valley at Rupert’s Valley.
During the St Helena Airport Project works in 2008, 325 of these bodies were excavated. In January 2022, funding was secured to rebury these people. This means that there will soon be a tangible location where you can go to pay your respects to those who suffered during this time. Coffin production and movement of the remains is now under way, with plans for the reburial in late 2022. In the future there should also be an interpretation centre which will provide valuable education about the site and its significance.
2. Stroll through Georgian Jamestown
Hemmed in between a steep charcoal-hued valley and the ocean, Jamestown is a pinch of Georgian grandeur in the Atlantic. Founded in 1659 by the East India Company, most of its heritage buildings are still standing today, each built from rock cut from the surrounding valley. Guided history tours take you along Main Street – said to feature one of the finest displays of preserved Georgian architecture anywhere in the world – and to some of the town’s signature buildings like the whitewashed courthouse and St James’ Church, the oldest Anglican church in the whole of the southern hemisphere.
3. Enter the island’s forts
As well as its rocky coastline, forts and batteries were St Helena’s main line of defence against invasion. Establishing the Fort of St John was the East India Company’s first act after settling in 1659; now it’s The Castle, the island’s main government building. More fortifications pock St Helena like hill-perched High Knoll Fort (the island’s only inland fort), while a walk from Jamestown connects you with Munden’s and Banks batteries where you can walk around the dramatic cliff-side buildings that were used to house three exiled Bahraini nationalists in 1957. Fancy a challenge? Ascend the 699 steps of Jacob’s Ladder for coastal panoramas and the ruins of Ladder Hill Fort.
4. Visit a Boer War cemetery
From 1900-1902, St Helena took in almost 6,000 Boer War Prisoners of War, who were spread across two tented camps in Deadwood Plain and Broad Bottom. Nothing remains of either one – apart from a commemorative sign at the Deadwood camp – but you can pay tribute to the 200 prisoners who perished on-island (due to a typhoid outbreak) with a visit to the island’s Boer War cemetery. Nestled in a tranquil wooded valley in the island’s St Paul's district, its tiered gravestones and granite obelisks create a poignant atmosphere.
5. Dark history tour
A dark history guided tour will reveal an eerie but fascinating side to the island. Listen to stories of slavery among the cellars of Jamestown, tales of legendary shipwrecks and pay a visit to one or two of the island’s buildings which are said to be haunted. These include the Oaklands estate, a place reputed to have the island’s busiest paranormal activity, and Plantation House, the governor’s residence – few locals are comfortable being here after dark.
Meet the locals
From coffee to carnivals and flax weaving to fishcakes, St Helena’s broad culture makes up a large bulk of the island’s charm. What’s more, its gregarious locals can’t wait to show off their home to you. So, what are you waiting for?
1. Tour a coffee plantation
The East India Company introduced many things to St Helena, but few have been embraced like the humble coffee bean. Bringing green-tipped Bourbon Arabica coffee seeds from the port of Mocha in Yemen in 1733 proved to be a masterstroke, but it took Napoleon’s fondness for a Saints’ brew for St Helena to share it with the world. Today, the strain has remained free from diseases and cross-breeding and you can tour one of the island’s coffee estates, the Rosemary Gate plantation, with husband-and-wife owners Bill and Jill Bolton to unravel the secrets behind one of the world’s most exclusive cuppas.
2. Celebrate like a Saint
When it’s Carnival day in St Helena, out goes the traditional British reservedness and in comes the island party state of mind. Held every other year, all that pent-up partying transforms the otherwise-slumbersome Jamestown into a fantasia of kaleidoscopic floats and flamboyantly dressed locals. If you can’t wait two years, St Helena’s Day (commemorated on 21st May, the day the island was discovered) is a medley of themed stalls, a float parade, sporting competitions and live music performed by locals; and the whole of December is packed with Christmas parades and island-wide parties.
3. Get hands-on and crafty
St Helena’s isolation has meant many of the handicraft skills honed over the centuries have survived the test of time. The Arts and Crafts Centre in Jamestown is a showcase for local artisans to display their seedwork, lacework and wood turning; workshops give you the opportunity to create your own unique souvenir. Flax weaving is an ingenious way to curb one of St Helena’s pesky invasive species and expert local Wanda Isaac’s flax-weaving classes will have you fashioning flowers, baskets, animals and even hats.
4. Take a home-cooking class
To really understand St Helena’s hotch-potch of cultures, you need to try its cuisine. Tuna fishcakes, plo (a one-pot curried rice dish) and fried conger eel are among the local staples, but nothing exemplifies its diversity more than a curry and roast – a traditional British Sunday roast twinned with a Saint curry. Cooking classes hosted in local homes are an authentic way to not only learn how to make your own Saint speciality but get a flavoursome understanding of the island’s cuisine from the locals themselves.
5. Sip sundowners at the seaside
Sunset like a local and head down to a seaside bar to toast the sinking sun. The Mule Yard, Donny's and the Yacht Club all serve up drinks alongside sunset views, and you'll have the chance to rub shoulders with the locals, many of whom walk down to the open-air bars to watch the sunset after work. Or why not walk along the seafront to enjoy views of the dipping sun as it splashes shades of pink, amber and lemon across the sky? This is St Helena island life at its most stripped back.
What are you waiting for?
For more information on St Helena including how to book, visit the official St Helena website.
