Santo has been voted the 3rd most beautiful island in the world by the U.K Daily Mail.

It has been compiled by Big 7 Travel, which drew up the list from a poll that quizzed 5,345 of its readers about their favourite spots. Data from review sites and the opinions of its editorial team were also used.

Topping the ranking is Flatey, a tiny island off the coast of Iceland with a population of just five that’s described as looking like a ‘movie set’.

Palawan in the Philippines comes second, while the largest of Vanuatu’s 83 islands, Espiritu Santo is third in the ranking.

It remains largely unspoilt with ‘powdery white sand’ as well as ‘clear blue waters’. Its most famous beach is Champagne Beach, which earned its name as at low tide, a fizz appears on the shore, which is caused by gas escaping from volcanic rocks.

The island is also known for its gin-clear ‘blue holes’, which occur when underground streams bubble up through limestone.

Sommarøy, off the coast of Norway, is fourth and Korcula island in Croatia is fifth.

A run-down of the top 50 islands, ranked in reverse order, of the 50 most breathtaking islands on earth are as follows: Côn So’n, Vietnam; Mallorca, Spain; Chiloe, Chile; Paros, Greece;St. Lucia; Öland, Sweden;Tobago;Formentera, Spain;Culebra, Puerto Rico;Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia; Cozumel, Mexico;Jicaro, Nicaragua;La Digue in Seychelles, which boasts unusual boulders and shimmering sand.

Ranked 37th is Laucala Island in Fiji; followed by Mont Saint-Michel, France; St. Barts; Salt Spring Island, Canada; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Pulau Tengah, Malaysia; Gozo, Malta; Galápagos Islands, Ecuador; Galápagos Islands, Ecuador; Sir Bani Yas – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Rangitoto Island, New Zealand; Curaçao; The Maldives; Cebu, Philippines; Aitutaki, The Cook Islands; Colonsay, Scotland and Kauai, Hawaii.

In the 21th place is Havelock Island, Andaman Islands, India; Santorini, Greece; Corsica, France; Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada; Ibiza, Spain; Bali, Indonesia; Fraser Island, Australia; Capri, Italy; Koh Tao, Thailand; Azores, Portugal; Rawa Island, Malaysia; Bora Bora, French Polynesia, and Lummi Island, Washington State.

The Caribbean island of Barbados breezes in at number eight, followed by Pemba Island, Tanzania and the Aran Islands, Ireland.

12 Oct 2019, Vanuatu Daily Post.