As peak holiday season arrives and travellers hunt for their next dreamy island break, one destination is firmly out of bounds.
Plenty of tourists will head to India for Goa’s beaches or to see Agra’s world-famous Taj Mahal. But there’s one place visitors must avoid: North Sentinel Island, home to the Sentinelese—one of the most uncontacted tribes on the planet.
Most people enjoy escaping the noise of everyday life, but the Sentinelese have taken isolation to another level. It’s believed they’ve lived apart from the outside world for more than 60,000 years on the island in the Bay of Bengal, part of the Andaman Islands.
Completely untouched by modern society, the tribe has no connection to social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook—and no reliance on contemporary technology.
This separation isn’t simply a lifestyle choice; access is prohibited by law. Visiting North Sentinel Island has been illegal since 1996, largely because outside contact poses serious dangers, particularly the risk of disease. Having remained isolated for so long, the Sentinelese are thought to have little to no immunity to common illnesses carried by outsiders.
There’s also the fact that the tribe is known to respond aggressively to intruders, with reports of people being attacked or driven away with stones and weapons.
Even so, that hasn’t stopped some from attempting to reach it. Recently, YouTuber Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was detained by police after being accused of setting foot on North Sentinel Island.
Authorities believe he stayed for around an hour, reportedly filming content for his YouTube channel.
During the incident, he is said to have blown a whistle in an effort to draw the tribe’s attention, according to Metro.
The situation was reportedly brought to officials’ attention by local fishermen, who said he left a Diet Coke behind as an ‘offering’.
Polyakov isn’t the first to try entering the restricted area. In 2018, US evangelist John Allen Chau also attempted to go to the island, allegedly planning to live among the Sentinelese.
He reportedly intended to preach Christianity to the tribe, but is said to have been killed by arrows on November 17. His body was never recovered.
There have been rare moments of interaction with the outside world, including in 2004 following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Helicopters flew over the island during the aftermath, but the response remained hostile. One tribesman was even seen firing an arrow toward a helicopter, signalling they neither wanted contact nor outside assistance.