Travel to Socotra Island - All the things you should know!

Somewhere between 189 and 217 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen (depending on your source of information), and some 130 off the coast of Somalia, like a tiny, glittering tongue-stud in the gaping maw of the Gulf of Aden, lies the legendary island of Socotra (Suquṭra), ancient source of ambergris, dragon’s blood, frankincense, and myrrh.

Now an International Biosphere Reserve, it’s been called a Wonder Land, the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, and one of The Most Alien Landscapes on Earth.

“It is one of those unique places in the world,” says Spanish toptrotter Jorge Sanchez, founder of the well-respected Travelers Exploits Club.

According to The Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor made a brief call here on his fifth voyage, only to have his ship destroyed not by Socotran witchcraft but by a pair of huge, angry, possibly not entirely mythical birds-of-prey dropping boulders on it.

Birds of such description no longer factor among the 211 species on the Socotra Bird Checklist and the last Socotran witchcraft trials are said to have been held in the 1970s, but the corsairs, as always well-equipped with the latest in contemporary weaponry and chutzpah, are still very much in business.

According to Alan Lucas’ classic Red Sea and Indian Ocean Cruising Guide, “vessels have been grappled and towed into shore for looting.” Yachtsmen are advised to give the archipelago as wide a berth as possible.

Several local fishermen have been murdered in 2009, or have had their boats or engines taken out from under them at gunpoint. A freighter bound for Socotra with 2,000 tons of diesel fuel was taken by Somali pirates and held for ransom between January and April of 2009, causing a shortage of electricity on the island.

The silver lining, for diving enthusiasts, is an unparalleled underwater landscape of sunken vessels waiting to be explored.

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