People on these remote islands seem to be very happy and content with their lives. I really envy that.

I sailed there over 30 times from Cape Town as a yacht delivery captain and knew many of the locals.Such a wonderful life experience.I loved the local food especially the famous fish cakes and every time I moved on I would take a batch with me.Sad to think the ship will no longer operate.

Being a sailor for 26 years, i can feel her emotions. I miss the sea. But i need to change course, to be with my family. St. Helena is an island of dreams. Love this documentary.

At the age of 10 ( 1958 ) on our way from Cape Town to Southampton the boat stopped and anchored at St Helena . My 2 older brothers and me went ashore with a smaller boat. We climbed the 699 steps and visited Napoleons residents ( prison ) and stood in the room he died. Before the stop at St Helena the boat made a stop at “Ascension Island” and after St Helena the Canary islands “ las Palmas . Great memories !

The anticipation and isolation of Saint Helena Island come alive in this documentary. The resilience of its residents, many descended from exiles like Napoleon, is inspiring. Thanks to the documentary for revealing the unique world at the end of the Atlantic.

The RMS St. Helena. I feel something watching this documentary, mixed in with a certain degree of sadness. The last ever ship built in Aberdeen Scotland, after a long history of shipbuilding there. There is a fair portion of my soul, blood and sweat imbued into the very fabric of that ship. We were aware that this boat was most likely the end shipbuilding in Aberdeen. Hall Russell's (the yard had been privatised and had been renamed, but was still HR at its heart) was the last yard there to succumb to the fashion of de-industrialisation of major heavy industries in the UK and beyond, something that needn't have, nor should have happened. The ship was supposed to have been launched by Sarah Ferguson but for whatever reasons her husband, Prince Andrew launched it instead. I remember looking down at the top of his head. On Launch day, the folks that you see going down the slipway on a ship are not there for a "jolly" but have to go below into the darkness as soon as it hits the water, armed with torches and a large spanner to check all spaces, tanks etc below the water line for leaks and if necessary take the appropriate actions to stop any flooding should anything be discovered. Everything was checked prelaunch, but..........there is always a but......it would not the first time a new ship has been found taking on water. It was all clear. Anyway. It was good to see the ship still working and in good order even though it is now no longer serving in this role. I have good, if somewhat nostalgic, memories attached to being heavily involved in fabricating the steelwork of this ship, there were not so many of us left by the time this was being built.

My grandmother is from St Helena. She left 70 years ago, still has her accent

Wow! St Helena has changed dramatically since HMS Minerva anchored off Jamestown in 1970. Napoleon's house was largely empty of furniture, certainly not the grand tourist attraction it is now. The biggest surprise to me for such a small island was the contrast between a dry and barren edge and a constantly wet interior - it was the constant damp that leeched the arsenic from the green wallpaper (standard at the time) into the atmosphere that killed Napoleon. At the time the currency was the old British £SD - pounds shillings and pence, and the sailors used to scatter pennies for the urchins to scramble after. At one time my photo of Jamestown from the sea was the only picture of Jamestown on Wikipedia, but replaced with better ones a long time ago. A lovely island, and I treasure my memories of it. I hope it remains as unspoilt as it was 52 years ago.

My father was a captain. We have traveled from Istanbul to Cape Town a lot. We visited more than 20 countries and my favorite city was Sao Paulo and Miami. I used to accompany my father on his journey. When he was 13, he went on a trip to the island of St Helena and I wanted to go with him. We had the opportunity to tour the island. It was wonderful to see the house where Napoleon spent his last years. I was in heaven for a week.

That was most interesting and enjoyable. I knew nothing about St. Helena except that Napolean got exiled there. Thanks for the education.

It appears that 4 million people just found out about how awesome it is to visit St. Helena...Thanks DW Documentary!

Never ceases to amaze and amuse me that those of us in the Southern Hemisphere who speak English have ALL flattened the vowels. I was mistaken for an Australian frequently when I lived in England for a while. I’m from Cape Town.

I visited during Christmas in 1995! Had the absolute time of my life! I worked on Ascension and had many Saints working for me. A wonderful people in their own right. Hello St. Helena, Johnny and Whiskey and Bridigette, and Neville's family! Thank you forever for Jeffery and Sharon's wedding! And God Bless you May Murcury and hello to you Jason and Danny and Keddil, Dilly and Len,....... I remember you all fondly!

Privileged to have visited the island on the then RMS St Helena in 1982 and an honour to have met the crew of professionals who served her and us on our way South. Slainte.

Spent a week there in 1988, beautiful place, wonderful people. A highlight in my life.

Been on this beautiful Island a few times while working for Silversea Cruises,,we sail from Rio de Janiero, to Asencion island, St. Helenas, Walvis Bay and finally to Capetown.

My ex-husband used to work on the RMS St Helena. he always said how beautiful the island was, now I can see it for myself.

If I were to travel the world, places like these are the places I want to experience. Raw and beautiful. Not those usual (literally)on the map tourist spots.

R I P Captain Young, Bridge captain in this video who died unexpectedly about 3 years ago of a heart attack.

St. Helena and the Ascension Islands are the most beautiful places I've visited. My kind of paradise. Very fortunate to have the privilege.

That was very, very interesting as an old sailor my self it brings back fond memories of the sea but i travel the Mediterranean after WW2 and thank you DW Documentary.

Island life,I miss the island I grew up on,it was a simple life, but every day was amazing,I wish these people all the best,would love to visit one day.

I visited there for a couple of weeks in 2019. Some of the most friendly people as a whole that I have ever been around. Two weeks of hiking, hanging out with the locals and watching cricket at the The Standard pub in Jamestown. Great time.

Having been to St Helena on the RMS several times, this very enjoyable documentary brings back very fond memories, thank you!

I had the privilege of sailing as 3rd mate on the St Helena on her maiden voyage to the island, I was lucky enough to stay on the island whilst she sailed off to Cape Town and had the opportunity to meet many people there who made so welcome, it really is a magical place with the friendliest of people I have ever met on my world travels. I hope one day to return and find the many kind people I was once honoured to call my friends.

Visited in the mid 60's and was hugely impressed with the warmth of the locals. Quite often the conversation was centered on a visit by the Queens visit some years earlier.

The island, the people, the accent - all lovely. I want to visit this island.

Spend half a year there and enjoyed being the only tourist. Guess I hiked down all the amazing fisherman's paths into the lonely bays. A dream come true. Never saw such a bedazzling night sky again.

My mother lived there off and on for some 10 years. She often complained that you had to leave the island by law and after a period of time apply to return.

I live in Southern England and my sons friends mum comes from St Helena. I was honoured to meet someone from St Helena! She moved to England as a teenager.

It's so rewarding to find these little gems of DW, just waiting for me to discover them. A fascinating program about a fascinating place, which I may never have the opportunity to visit, if it weren't for DW's programing. I'd of course heard about St. Helena, and Bonaparte's banishment to it, but wasn't certain just "where" it was. Well, there you are, mystery solved. He started on an island, and he ended up on one. Thanks DW.

I just want to say thank you, this video puts me to sleep in the best way ever for years!

Spent time on Ascension Island working on the Runway, and Power Station, very interesting being so islolated, can understand young wanting to leave

They have such an interesting accent. Similar to South African, English (clearly) and at times, even American.

We left part of our hearts 'on island' in 2016 when we visited - cannot wait to return at some stage. God bless all you Saints over there and around the world.

Interesting to listen to St helenans & people from Tristan da cuhna. They present an accent that comes accross as a missing link between old British, American & southern hemisphere accents. Fascinating

DW is excellent as usual.Helena is beautiful , brooding and mysterious.Apart from its most famous historical resident it's the resting place of so many other souls ,many who had to involuntarly settle down here. It's a chilling thought really to consider that once you landed here there was no going back in the old days.

St Helena has changed forever. Very sad to lose the wonderful RMS.

Was fortunate to visit the island on our sailboat on a passage from South Africa to the Caribbean. Incredible place and lovely people.

I love these type of films that take you away to a far off place. Thank you. I wish I was still young and able to do adventures like this. Such a shame a titan of history like Napoleon was relegated to spend his last years castaway on such a bleak and remote island.

Many thanks to the people of St. Helena for all their hard work and making the lives of thousands of British service men and woman in The Falkland Islands much easier. I enjoyed meeting these hard working, honest and friendly people and learned much about their home Island and our countries shared history. Thank you, from an old squaddie. Great video thank you.

A nice way to see how an island is able to pull in many different types of people socially and professionally. It gives them an all round service throughout the entire year.

ST Helena Island once had a Shortwave radio station called Radio St Helena that made special broadcasts on the shortwave band from their island once every 2 years or so around Nov 7 back in 2006 i made a phone call to the island from Florida (cost a whopping $40 for ten minutes)_ and the announcer asked if i wanted to go live on the air so i said YES and I had a minidisc recorder connected to my shortwave radio to record the broadcast through the static i later heard my phone call and it was a really special day that day, LAter on I got an Email confirmation of my call and they later sent me a station sticker and s postcard signed by the station broadcast engineer confirming my reception . Unfortunately a few years later they decided to shut down and dismantle the station sadly it is now only a memory. Thanks to the people of St. Helena for making this possible I hope one day Shortwave radio may return to the air from there or I can make a visit to your island! Cheers ! George Clement KF4ZKU Keystone Heights Florida.

My grandmother, Rosemary Clarke, was also from St Helena. Hope to go there soon

St. Helena is now accessible by air.

It's an introverts paradise. I'd like to go there. 😊

One of the few places in the world you can go and discover yourself.

This is amazing! My great grandfather is from here and I see my family in them. So beautiful to have been able to see this

St. Helena, a remote island in Atlantic is an astonishing documentary! I truly did appreciate it so much. Thanks a lot for sharing! Keep it up!

I sailed there many times...a wonderful place..lots of good memories.Such nice people.

Absolutely fascinating. Makes the northern hemisphere "civilization" seem like another world. The documentary presented by several young Women is very informative. I detect a definite St.Helena accent, a blend of British & South African; definitely not 'American' style, and quite refreshing. Long live St.Helena and its straightforward residents! Thank you so much.

considering my introverted personality this is such a perfect place for me.

I'm a Londoner. My bestie was a Saint and I got familiarised with their community here in UK and I have a huge fascination for the island.

I think St Helens is a fascinating and beautiful place. Thank you for this remarkable documentary !

That is one island that I would have loved to visit, but the closest I got was Ascension and the Falkland Islands, Tristan-de-Cuna would have been on my list as well. This documentary shows just how you can live and work happily in such a remote location and be happy as well.

Always enjoy the DW documentaries - different from most, well told

Thank you so much for making this documentary. Definitely on my genuine bucket list for life. XOXO ;)

One of the best documentaries by DW.

So they only checked if wind conditions were suitable After they built the airport? Clever.

Those accents! Unique and familiar at the same time.

I love the way you do documentary. For me you are the best. Thank you DW.

Good job! Never even heard of this island before I saw your video, well done!

I would like to visit this place

This is so weird watching. I travelled on the RMS At Helena when I was 7 years old in 1997. The boat seemed so big to me at the time. I still have my certificate for blowing the horn. We used the trip as a way to return to the UK having lived in Botswana for 7 years. We did the full journey from Cape Town to Cardiff. It is now parked in just off Weymouth and Portland. Funnily enough that is where my parents have retired to now.

The British government invested far more than 3 million pounds to develop and construct the airport, according to Wikipedia it has cost in excess of 285 million pounds. The first commercial landing of the 737 didn't attempt and fail 2 times before finally landing, it is typical to make a couple of approaches before finally landing when flying into a new airport like this one. The first practice approach to the airport was with gear up, the second was a gear down practice approach and on the third they landed quite normally. Nicely done, I enjoyed watching.. Thanks!

"We do not want McDonald's on every other corner." You said it, sir.

DW are doing a very good job with these educational and interesting programmes.

The first "attempt" at landing was a deliberate fly-by, while the second pass encountered some wind sheer hence the go-around for the third "attempt".

The solitude is part of the charm. The airport limits that. What a nice place anyway.

Awesome! So very interesting and quite remarkable. Would like to have viewed more of the town, but thankyou.😉

Strange that 750 people gave this a thumbs down. What could possibly have been that contentious?

This is the best program from DW.

I'm going to visit that island one day. Its on my bucktlist.

When I was a boy from 1943 to 1954 (just before Hurricane Carol hit), we went to Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard for the summer. Part of the fun of going was the ferry ride. It was the time machine that made the transition from 'something to do every minute' city life to 'nothing much to do' island life. Swimming and diving off the second bridge, fishing off the jetty, crabbing under the first bridge, biking over the entire island, boating (in the harbor only), chasing the fire engines and meeting the ferry were the daily events. On the island was a man who had grown up on St. Helena as the son of a whaling ship captain. His stories of the island, the staircase to the top of the island, the ships coming and going and his own going to sea at sixteen as a cabin boy on a whaling ship were documented in his book "Sails and Whales" by Harry Allen Chippendale. In his retirement years after his years as a Merchant Marine captain, he owned the 'pay beach' as we called it, where for a dime, you had a sandy beach, dressing rooms and a snack bar to spend the days swimming and diving off the private pier. The required one hour rest after lunch was spent listening to Captain Harry's stories of his youth and his St. Helena island. When Hurricane Carol struck the island, everything changed. The Pay Beach disappeared, literally, wiped clean off the map by the storm. The Steamship Authority pier disappeared as well, as did most of the waterfront piers and yachts. The yachts ended up impaled on those pier pilings. The island charm is still there; the summer venues, the gingerbread houses, the main street walk after dinner, the steamship pier is smaller now and so is the ship (diesel powered), the "Flying Horses" merry-go-round, the Island theater. It would be a nice place to retire. I'm not ready, yet. I love the internet travel to all the 'bucket list' places I wanted to go, but couldn't afford to in my adult life. I can go to St. Helena by boat, traveling in a way that makes the transition to island life gradually, with the sea air and the ship movement lulling me into the island pace of life, one more time.

I have been there on a ship bringing fuel and took the mail in our journey to South Africa. Amazing experience. Nice to see it again

Great video. I can imagine how the airport project must have divided Helenians, some saying "be careful what you wish for". Let's hope that things are not simply left to tourism market forces, so that the island stays very special.

Thank you DW. This is what makes life interesting. Excellent documentaries!!!

Another good video from the DW team.Thank you for making this.

This is gonna be one of my dream destination,,I jus fell in love with this island..I wish I go there sometime....

Their accents are all over the place, love it!

I want on that ship! Very nice! The horn is something else!

Waow what a place... life is too short to adventure all this.... lots of peace there

My grandparents were born here and moved to the uk around 1950 ish. I hope to travel there in the near future and discover a part of my family heritage

Its beautiful, I wanna visit one day....it looks like some of the Caribbean island... And the rocky mountain reminds me of cape town.... Love from, Nagaland India.

at 5.10 the comentator says that time is passed in a very british way, I immediatly thought that she was going to say DRINKING .

A great video .... tks for posting.

Thankyou for sharing this wonderful Doco. Really enjoyed hearing the feeling the residents have snout their home and their connectedness to each other. Long may your peace last. Hopefully the airport will bring tourists and supplies in a managed way. Thankyou again

Wow..its amazing remote island..cants say anything but just wow..hope there airport will be restored and completely function so all tours will easily can access them.. beautiful island

I love the music backing-track part - your rendition of Marc Bolan's 1966 Hippy Gumbo track. Great stuff!! It complemented the mystical-lost-in-time feel of the island, that the visual footage engenders. Wonderbah! Danke for this lovely Saint Helena video - a lovely special place.

if you're an introvert person, this kind of island is like heaven. the relative peace and quiet and just minding your own business. I'll love to live or retire in such places. It'll be a great place for a getaway or holiday.

I lived there happily for nearly a year and it was fun and people so friendly

this was a really cool video I stumblied upon. It was also very calming and relaxing to watch. L

NO WAY....... I never imagined it'd be worth a look for an island so incredibly far out in the Atlantic...!!! This is a superb stumble-upon gem. Replete with the accounts of former inhabitants on this very page :) The water depth out there must be a few miles (?). It's not always about the depth but the distance to shore that matters, but what a spot to live on when the hurricanes hurl across from the western African coastline. Excellent video, much thanks for sharing it.

I think DW channels are the best channels in the world

Thanks for sharing this great documentary about St.Helena Island and its people, very interesting to know little things about this remote island on the Atlantic. Best known through history of Napoleon's exile. Congratulations😍💯 good job.

The RMS St Helena has now been decommissioned and will no longer be running a service to St Helena, the island bid farewell to her on Friday, 9 February 2018, she set sail on her final voyage to Cape Town on Saturday, 10 February having served the island for 27 years. Apparently the only way to travel there is by owning your own vessel or taking a flight there which leaves South Africa and stops in Namibia for refuel.

This is beautiful DW.

Wow, I'm glad to see this. I used to work on the St.Helena while in Cape Town early 90's

Love this documentary of my home! ❤️

Superb story. Superb production. Bon voyage captain.