Santa Carolina is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

between the Mozambican mainland and Bazaruto Island in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. The closest town is called Inhassoro. It is just in size. Santa Carolina is a true rock island with deep channels. Santa Carolina has three beaches with coral reefs close to the shore. The island, also known as Paradise Island is regarded as the ‘gem’ of the islands forming the

Bazaruto Archipelago The Bazaruto Archipelago is a group of six islands in Mozambique, near the mainland city of Vilankulo. It comprises the islands of Bazaruto, Benguerra, Magaruque, Banque, Santa Carolina (also known as Paradise Island) and Shell. Nyati Island ...

which is a proclaimed marine national park.

Abandoned Hotel

There is a ruined hotel on the island. It was built in the 1950s by Portuguese businessman Joaquim Alves, who abandoned the hotel when Mozambique gained independence in June 1975. The hotel was made up of 10 buildings with a combined 250 rooms. Alves also built a chapel on the island. The hotel was maintained by its staff for two decades after Alves abandoned it, and it was bought by South African developer Richard Makin in 1993, who planned to renovate and reopen the hotel. Makin's ownership of the island was disputed when he tried to sell the island in 1997. The hotel was supposedly frequented by famous guests while it was still in use, but the reliability of these stories is uncertain. For example, several travel sites claim that

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

wrote his song

in the restaurant of the hotel, a story which conflicts with claims that the song was a competition between Dylan and co-writer

Jacques Levy Jacques Levy (July 29, 1935 – September 30, 2004) was an American songwriter, theatre director and clinical psychologist. Early life and education Levy was born in New York City in 1935 and graduated from the City College of New York in 1956. ...

to rhyme as many words as possible with "Mozambique".

Appearance on ''Survivor''

The island was used for season 3 of ''

Survivor South Africa ''Survivor South Africa'' is a South African reality game show based on the popular international '' Survivor'' format. As in all versions of the show, it features group of strangers who are marooned in an isolated location, where they must pro ...

'' (titled '' Survivor South Africa: Santa Carolina'').

References

Islands of Mozambique {{Mozambique-geo-stub