| For some reason, fictional stories always seem to | | | | islands will begin taking advantage of this |
| portray being marooned on a deserted island as a | | | | potentially lucrative business. |
| bad thing. Books like Lord of the Flies, movies like | | | | So what are the areas of the world most likely to |
| Cast Away, and TV shows like Lost portray it as | | | | have the right kinds of conditions for deserted |
| a terrifying ordeal that one is lucky to survive. But | | | | island vacations? |
| if you ask me, aside from the obvious food and | | | | The Caribbean: The Caribbean region has over |
| shelter issues, being cast away on some tropical | | | | 7,000 islands, cays, above-water reefs, and islets, |
| deserted island sounds great. At least if you get | | | | and that's just the number that has been counted. |
| dropped off on the kind of island portrayed in | | | | To the northwest, there are the Greater Antilles, |
| these stories, you have access to a beach, good | | | | comprised of larger islands like Cuba, Hispaniola, |
| fishing, trees to build a shelter, and regular rain for | | | | Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, all of which are |
| drinking water. Sure, I'd probably want to get off | | | | surrounded by numerous smaller islands right in |
| the island at some point, but the rescuers can | | | | the middle of some of the most beautiful seas in |
| take their time. | | | | the world. |
| So-called "deserted island vacations" are a growing | | | | And even more promising, to the southeast are |
| adventure travel trend among people with enough | | | | the Lesser Antilles, comprised of hundreds of little |
| cash to spend. There are obvious difficulties to | | | | island territories, including the Virgin Islands, |
| this type of vacation, of course; most | | | | Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, Saint Vincent, and |
| importantly, it's extremely difficult to find islands | | | | many others that most of us have never even |
| that are 1) uninhabited, 2) picturesque, 3) safe, | | | | heard of. And then there are also the Bahamas, |
| and 4) open to tourists. However, as the | | | | the Florida Keys, and many more stray islands |
| deserted island vacation trend grows, it's likely | | | | out in the middle of the sea. |
| that governments and private individuals who own | | | | |