Nelson Island is the largest isle of the group of tiny islands known as the “Five Islands” which lie west of Port of Spain in the Gulf of Paria, but its history is anything but insignificant.

The island was once a fishing and bartering stopover point for the Warao and Nepuyo tribes of the First Peoples; an entry point and quarantine station and repatriation centre for East Indian immigrants; and a detention centre for Jewish Holocaust refugees in the 1930s, for political prisoners of the Government (most notably the incarceration of Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler of the Labour Rights Movement in the 1930as and 1940s) and finally, the imprisonment of members of the Black Power Movement in the 1970s.

Visitors can now relive the experiences of this island’s diverse legacy by touring the existing buildings, ruins, jail cells and pictureseque trails.

Please Note: Visitors require permission from the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago to get on the island. For more details, visit the link below for booking inquiries.