Howland Island

A Refuge in the Fullest Sense

Without human disturbance for decades, Howland Island supports significant seabird populations including frigatebirds, boobies, shearwaters and terns. The surrounding reef is largely intact and the waters are exceptionally clear. A lighthouse beacon named Earhart Light was erected in her memory and still operates, making it one of the more poignant pieces of navigation infrastructure in the Pacific. Access requires a special-use permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, granted only for scientific or educational purposes.

Self-Sufficiency Is Not Optional

Permitted visitors must arrive entirely self-contained by private vessel. There is no resupply, no communications infrastructure, no medical support and no possibility of calling for assistance through any island facility. The nearest inhabited land is more than a thousand kilometres away. This is not a warning so much as a description of the logistics. Howland Island is a wilderness area and is managed as one, which means human convenience is not a factor in its administration.

One of the Last Places on the Calendar

Like its neighbour Baker Island, Howland observes UTC-12, placing it among the last places on earth to begin each new day. It is part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, a grouping of remote Pacific and Caribbean territories that are sovereign US soil but support no civilian population. For most travellers, Howland Island is a name encountered in the context of aviation history rather than a place that appears in any realistic itinerary.