The Hidden Islands of India You Should Know About

The Hidden Islands of India You Should Know About Beyond the Andamans and Lakshadweep, these are the lesser known islands in India where old cultures, quiet villages, and rare landscapes still hide in plain sight.

Say the word island in India and most people picture the same two places: the Andamans or Lakshadweep. But scattered across rivers, backwaters, and quiet coastlines, the country holds a whole second set of islands that rarely make it onto a travel itinerary. Some are shaped by ancient volcanic rock, others by centuries of river silt, and a few by colonial history that simply never left. At Unfolding India, we went looking beyond the obvious coastlines to find the islands most travellers don't know to ask for. Majuli, Assam: The World's Largest River Island Cradled by the Brahmaputra River, Majuli holds the distinction of being the world's largest river island, though its size is really the least interesting thing about it. The island became the centre of Assamese neo-Vaishnavite culture in the 16th century under the saint reformer Srimanta Sankardeva, and that legacy is still very much alive today in its satras, monastic centres where dance, theatre, music, and manuscript making continue to be practised and passed down. In villages like Samaguri, artisans still hand craft the elaborate masks used in Bhaona performances, a traditional storytelling art form rooted in mythology. Wetlands, rice fields, bamboo houses, and slow moving canoes fill the landscape, and erosion from the river's shifting course means the island is quite literally changing shape year by year, a reminder that Majuli's beauty is also, in some sense, borrowed time. Divar Island, Goa: The Countryside Goa Left Behind Just a short ferry ride from Old Goa, on the Mandovi River, sits an island that seems to have opted out of Goa's tourist rush entirely. Divar Island is dotted with Portuguese era villas, old churches, and narrow lanes that wind past paddy fields stretching further than most visitors expect from a state better known for beaches and nightlife. There are no crowds here, no beach shacks, only quiet villages, birdwatching by the riverbank, and a version of Goa's countryside that has resisted commercialisation almost entirely. Catching the ferry from Viceroy's Arch feels less like a short crossing and more like stepping into a slower decade. St. Mary's Islands, Karnataka: A Geological Accident Worth Visiting Off the coast near Udupi lies a set of small islands that look like nowhere else in India. St. Mary's Islands are known for their rare hexagonal basalt rock formations, columns of stone shaped by ancient volcanic activity millions of years ago and later exposed by the sea. The otherworldly rock formations, framed by turquoise water, draw geology enthusiasts and photographers in equal measure, and the islands remain proof that a coastline doesn't need white sand to leave a lasting impression. Munroe Island, Kerala: A Cluster Built on Canals Scattered across Ashtamudi Lake in Kerala, Munroe Island is actually a cluster of eight small islets connected by a network of narrow canals. Canoe tours here glide past coir making workshops, coconut groves, and villages that still run on the same backwater rhythm they have followed for generations. It offers a quieter, more intimate alternative to Kerala's more commercial backwater routes, closer to daily village life than to a curated houseboat experience. Kavvayi Islands, Kerala: An Old Spice Route, Quietly Preserved In North Kerala, the Kavvayi Islands sit inside a landscape of interconnected wetlands, mangroves, and calm backwaters, a region historically tied to the old spice trade routes along the Malabar coast, reportedly noted even in the writings of travellers like Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. Today, canoe rides have replaced any trace of commercial shipping, and the islands remain one of Kerala's least commercialised backwater regions, home to fishing villages and mangrove lined canals rather than resorts. Islands Worth Seeking Out What connects these five places is not geography but a shared resistance to becoming predictable travel stops. Each one holds a distinct identity, monastic culture on a river island, colonial quiet in Goa, volcanic rock off Karnataka's coast, backwater life in Kerala's canals, all sitting just outside the radius of India's most photographed island destinations. Finding them takes a little more effort than booking a flight to Port Blair, but that effort is exactly what keeps them the way they are. At Unfolding India, we believe the best islands are sometimes the ones nobody is rushing to see. If these quiet corners of the map have caught your attention, follow along for more places in India still waiting to be discovered. Explore more travel stories on Unfolding India. Subscribe for weekly dispatches from the country's most beautiful corners.