Swains Island

Swains Island lies some three hundred and fifty kilometres north of Tutuila, a coral atoll around two and a half kilometres across with a lagoon closed off entirely from the sea, held by the Jennings family since the nineteenth century and administered as part of American Samoa. Coconut was worked there for generations and the population has fluctuated between a few dozen and nobody at all. There is no scheduled transport of any kind.

Background

In Tokelauan the atoll is Olohega and in Samoan Olosega, and it also goes by Jennings Island, after Eli Hutchinson Jennings, who made his home here in 1856. His family has owned it ever since, and it served as a copra plantation until 1967. Nobody has lived here permanently since 2008, though family members, scientists and amateur radio operators visit. The land covers 2.43 square kilometres around Lake Namo, a lagoon of 1.16 square kilometres that is up to 12 metres deep and holds brackish water with two species of freshwater fish. Its channel to the sea probably closed around 575. In the village of Taulaga, a church from around 1886 was the only building standing as of 2013.

Source: Wikipedia, "Swains Island"

What's there

• The closed lagoon - a body of brackish water with no connection to the sea.
• The atoll ring - the coconut-covered land around the lagoon.
• The family holding - private ownership running back to the nineteenth century.
• The isolation - three hundred and fifty kilometres from the nearest settlement.

When to go

May to September is the calmer season, though access is the constraint rather than weather. Visits depend entirely on a vessel going. There is no schedule.

Things to know

There is no way for a visitor to get there: no flights, no ferry and no regular vessel. Permission from the owners would be required in any case. It is included here as a place, not as somewhere that can be visited.

Nearby

Tokelau lies to the north, and Tutuila is far south.

Key facts