Niulakita

Niulakita is the smallest island in Tuvalu and the last one south, a single piece of land under half a square kilometre with no lagoon, worked as a coconut plantation in the colonial period and settled permanently from Niutao in 1949. Only a few dozen people live there. Ships call rarely and the island can go a long time without contact. Seabirds nest in numbers on the undisturbed ground. The island lies well south of the rest of the group, with open ocean in every direction.

What you actually see

• The single island - land under half a square kilometre with no lagoon.
• The tiny population - a few dozen residents on the whole island.
• The seabirds - the colonies on ground almost nobody uses.
• The plantation history - the coconut worked here before settlement.

When to go

May to October is drier and calmer. Ships call very rarely in any month. November to April is the cyclone season.

Honest expectations

Ships call rarely and unpredictably; being stranded for weeks is a genuine possibility. There is no accommodation, shop or medical facility. Landing depends entirely on the surf.

Nearby

Nukulaelae is north, and Funafuti is far north.