Hidden Unseen

Top 20 Highest Points On Islands in the World

When you think of islands, do you picture a tropical scene with beautiful warm beaches? Yet some islands are bitterly cold and covered in ice and snow. Some islands seem to have it all, from wonderful crashing waves to high peaks that are covered in snow. This is a list of high points for the top 20 islands in the world ordered by their highest point. As we did to illustrate the 20 U.S. National Parks by elevation, including the 20 highest points found in that park, here starting at #20 and counting down to #1 we show the immense diversity of islands. We’ve included an image from each island as well as a photo of the mountain or volcano peak that is the highest point of that island

Starting at #20 and counting down to #1, this is a list of the top 20 ‘highest’ islands in the world, ordered by their highest points.

Ranked at #20 on the list is Seram, Indonesia, where Mount Binaiya (Gunung Binaiya) stretches up to 9,931 feet, or 3,027 meters, making it one of the 100 most topographically prominent peaks on Earth. Jean-Claude Latombe’s Mountaineering, Climbing, and Trekking Page has fascinating photos and the story of treking through Seram island and ascending Mt. Binaiya.

#20: Seram from the sea on top. But trekking deep in the jungle to climb Mount Binaiya, the photographer said, “Encounter with a python that had swallowed a deer. Extremely impressive. It takes about a month for a python to digest such a big animal.”

Sunset with Mount Agung in Amed, Bali. Indonesia, the 19th highest point on islands worldwide. As we pointed out when showing off the 7 Sea Temples of Beautiful Bali, it is also known as the island paradise of 1,000 temples.

#19: Rice fields in Bali with Mount Agung in background. Mount Agung stands tall at 9,994 feet, or 3,031 meters, at the peak.

#18: The Island of Maui ranks at #18 due to Haleakala. This is the scene at the big beach at Makena in Makena State Park, Maui.

Staring down into the crater of Mount Haleakala from the summit during sunrise. In Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui in Hawaii, Haleakala is 10,023 feet (3,055 m) high, making it the 18th highest island point in the the world and the 2nd tallest point of USA islands. Haleakala also takes the prize as 18th for the list of U.S. National Parks by highest elevation.

Beach on Réunion, France, the island with the 17th highest point due to Piton des Neiges.

#17 highest point is Piton des Neiges peak on Réunion island. It reaches 10,072 feet, or 3,070 meters. Sunrise on the Piton des Neiges is rarely clear. The photographer added, “We were lucky because few clouds are shown.”

#16 on the list of islands by highest points is Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic with Pico Duarte.

Pico Duarte is the highest peak in all the Caribbean islands; it reaches 10,164 feet, or 3,098 meters, coming in at 16th.

#15 is Siple Island with Mount Siple, a potentially active Antarctic shield volcano, rising to 10,203 ft (3,110 meters) and dominating the northwest part of Siple Island.

Siple Dome on Mount Siple, Antarctica, the 15th highest point on islands.

Sicily, Italy, with Mount Etna is ranked 14th for highest island point worldwide.

#14: At 10,912 ft, or 3,326 meters high, Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. It’s located on the east coast of Sicily.

#13: Sulawesi island, Indonesia, because of the Mount Rantemario peak.

Summit of Mount Rantemario on the island of Sulawesi, reaches 11,411 ft (3,478 m) to rank 13th.

#12: Colors of a mystic Java sunset. The Semeru volcano on Java is 12th when it comes to highest points of islands worldwide.

Semeru volcano, or Mount Semeru, rises to 12,060 ft (3,676 m) on the island of Java, Indonesia. The photographer said of this Semeru background with stunning star trails, “Another freezing night in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park.”

Ranked 11th: Clouds and Northern Lights aka Aurora Borealis over Greenland, which comes in at #11 in highest points of islands. Greenland is also famous for extraordinarily incredible icebergs.

#11: Gunnbjørn Fjeld, or Gunnbjørn, 12,119 ft (3,694 m) is the highest point on Greenland. It is also the highest mountain north of the Arctic circle. Wikipedia adds, “It is a nunatak, a rocky peak protruding through glacial ice. In the Icelandic Sagas, and thus by the Norsemen, the mountain was called Hvitserk, literally meaning ‘whiteshirt’. It is named after Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, the Viking who was the first European to reach Greenland.” The photographer noted, that this shot of Gunnbjørn was “taken during a joint British-Russian expedition in May 2011.”

#10 ranked island by highest point is Tenerife, Spain. This is one of the Canary Islands. Teide Peak stretches to 12,198 ft (3,718 m). The 73 sq mi (18,900 hectares) area surrounding the Teide volcano makes up Teide National Park, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This rare capture includes Teide, Luna, Venus and Jupiter.

Mount Teide, the volcano on Tenerife is ranked 10th. The photographer wrote, “you can gaze at certain times like this in the early morning or in the evening still enjoy almost alone. The picture shows the highest mountain in Spain, the 3718 m high Pico del Teide. The imposing rock in the foreground is the Los Roques.”

#9 highest point is on the island of Lombok, Indonesia. This sunrise on Gili Trwangan has a view of Mount Rinjani in the background.

A small eruption of #9 Mount Rinjani, with volcanic lightning. Lombok’s Mount Rinjani, or Gunung Rinjani, active volcano rises 12,224 ft (3,726 m) and has a crater lake (caldera) known as ‘Child of the Sea.’ The lake is about 660 ft, 200 meters, deep; the caldera also has a hot springs.

#8 South Island, New Zealand, with Aoraki / Mt. Cook in the background and Lake Pukaki in the foreground. Mt. Cook National Park has more than 140 peaks standing over 6,600 ft (2,000 m).

South Island ranked 8th due to 12,320 ft (3,755 m) peak of Aoraki / Mount Cook, seen here with lenticular clouds over the summit.

#7: Endless fields of purple flowers in front of the 7th highest point on an island, Mount Fuji, which is still capped with snow.

Honshu Island, Japan, comes in ranked 7th, since the towering 12,388 feet (3,776 meters) active stratovolcano Mount Fuji.

#6 is Ross Island, Antarctica, with Mt. Erebus seen here with a plume.

Ross Island is 6th due to the 12,448 ft (3,794 m) summit of Mount Erabus. Although considered Antarctica, Ross Island did not belong to a country or territory, so it was claimed by New Zealand.

#5 on the list of islands by highest point is Sumatra, Indonesia, with Mount Kerinci. The photographer said, “Sampan traversing the lake in Kerinci Seblat National Park.”

At 12,484 ft (3,805 m), Mount Kerinci is the highest volcano in Indonesia, the highest peak on the island of Sumatra, and the 5th highest point of any island globally. According to Wikipedia, “It is surrounded by the lush forest of Kerinci Seblat National Park, home to the endangered species of Sumatran Tiger and Sumatran Rhinoceros.”

#4 is Taiwan, Republic of China, with Yushan, also called Jade Mountain, looming up to 12,966 ft (3,952 m).

Sunrise over Yushan, 4th highest point among islands. In the winter, Yushan is often capped with thick snow, making the entire peak shine like stainless jade thus the name Jade Mountain.

The 3rd highest point on an island is Borneo, Malaysia, with Mount Kinabalu.

#3 Mount Kinabalu rises to 13,435 ft (4,095 m) and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. The photographer called this, “Welcome in Mordor.”

#2: Hawaii has Mauna Kea. This little slice of paradise is Green Sand Beach, also called Papakolea Beach, Big Island, Hawaii.

Mauna Kea stretches to 13,803 ft (4,207 m), making it the 2nd highest point of islands worldwide. Hawaii seems to have it all, from gorgeous green or even black sandy beaches, to lava entering the Pacific at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, to the high peak covered in snow as seen here at the Mauna Kea Observatories telescopes.

#1 on list of islands by highest point is New Guinea, Indonesia, with the Puncak Jaya summit at 4,884 m, 16,024 ft on Mount Carstensz. The peak is also called Carstensz Pyramid, locally referred to as peak Jaya; it is the highest peak in Australia and Oceania. The mountain was named Cartensz after Dutch sailor John Carstensz, who saw that the mountain on the equator was covered by ice. In 1623, no one would believe Carstensz’s story about the the existence of the ice caps along the tropical equator. His reports were first met with laughter. These are reportedly the only tropical glaciers in Indonesia, and they are disappearing in what some claim is due to global warming.

To underscore the incredible shrinking Puncak Jaya Glacier, NASA said the top images were photographed by J.J. Dozy in 1936; by the United States Geological Survey during the Carstensz Glaciers Expeditions in 1972; and by a NASA astronaut on the International Space Station in 2005. The bottom Landsat 7 image shows the 4,884-meter-tall (16,024-foot) summit of Puncak Jaya, one of the Seven Summits, the nearby open pit of Freeport mine – one of the world’s largest producers of copper and gold – and three glaciers. The Earth Observatory said, “While Puncak Jaya’s peak is free of glaciers, there are several on its slopes, including the Carstensz Glacier, the Meren Glacier, and Northwall Firn (hanging glaciers).” In this image, “snow and ice appears blue while clouds are white, bare unvegetated land such as the rocky limestone summit ridges appear red or pinkish, the deep purple and grey is the open pit copper mine while the lush rainforest of the lowlands appears green.”

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Ancient Ice Houses in Iran

Before the invention of the refrigerator, which is a relatively modern invention, ice was a precious commodity that couldn’t be easily obtained or made, especially during the summer. To preserve meat and other food items huge blocks of ice had to imported all the way from Scandinavian countries in the Arctic circle or from mountain tops carefully insulated with straw. In the US, the UK and other countries in Europe, ice was brought in from Norway. The Russians collected ice along the Neva River while the Indians got their share from the Himalayas. The ice were stored in specially made buildings called ice houses and they lasted throughout the year.

The most common designs involved underground chambers, usually man-made, which were built close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes. During the winter, ice and snow would be taken into the ice house and packed with insulation, such as straw or sawdust. It would remain frozen for many months, often until the following winter, and could be used as a source of ice during summer months. This could be used simply to cool drinks, or allow ice-cream and sorbet desserts to be prepared.

Ice House in Kashan, Iran.

Ice-houses were known in Iran as early as the seventeenth century B.C., and these were used as recently as 50 years ago. Many disused egg shaped ice houses made from mud bricks still exist in Iran. Iranian ice houses are gigantic in size compared to those found in the west, and they were unique because of the way ice was obtained.

Iran is largely a desert where fresh water is rare and even in winter, when the temperature falls to freezing at night, the mid-day sun is hot. Huge quantities of ice would be needed to fill these vast, domed wells and this cannot be arranged to be transported from far off places. The ingenious Iranians, instead, made their own ice.

Behind each ice houses are long shallow channels where water is poured during the winter nights. The channels were protected from heat during the day by shade walls. At night, a thick layer of ice is formed over the surface. This was broken and collected before the sun could rise and moved to the ice houses. This was repeated each night until there was enough ice to last the next summer. Several shaded walls, deep wells and cleverly constructed domes kept the heat out.

More than a hundred ice house can be found all over Iran, but very few exist in its original form and full extent. Unless a concerted effort is made in terms of restoration and preservation, the prognosis is not good for the majority of Iran’s ice houses. Some of the disused ice-houses has already been used as rubbish dumps.

Ice House in Abarkuh, Iran.

Ice house in Yazd, Iran.

Ice House in Meybod Iran.

Inside the ice house in Meybod.

Ice House in Kashan

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Amazing Icebergs

Icebergs are born as gorgeous ancient glaciers rumble, crack and calve, so it stands to reason that the “children” would be equally majestic. Icebergs comes in all shapes and sizes, from “tiny” growlers which are about the size of small cars, to bergy bits which are about the size of a small house, to immense icebergs of all sizes. Although icebergs can be striped and come in various colors that are revealed as the iceberg “rolls” over in the sea, the water from bergs is very pure since the ice formed long ago. NOAA said, “The planet’s greatest stores of freshwater lie far away from the arid, heavily populated regions that need it the most. Nearly 70% of all fresh water is locked in the polar ice caps. Just the new icebergs that form every year around Antarctica hold enough water to meet the needs of every person on Earth for several months. Longstanding proposals to tow icebergs to lower latitudes where their valuable water can be harvested have been met with both skepticism and interest. To date, no successful attempts have been made.” About 90% of icebergs are underwater, but here are 55 photographic reasons why icebergs are so incredibly cool . . . from the safety of your computer chair that is.

Whale fluke near icebergs at Jacobshavn Isfjord, summer in Greenland. When chunks of glaciers break off, or calve, icebergs are born. Icebergs may also break off from ice shelves or a larger icebergs. Sometimes the violent birth of an iceberg can cause a huge wave. Other times, as an iceberg melts, it might flip completely over where the underside is larger than what previously appeared above the sea. This is but one reason boats are warned not to be too close and allow their curiosity to potentially endanger them.

Feeling tiny in Greenland, small boat next to massively and majestic iceberg. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said, “The term ‘iceberg’ refers to chunks of ice larger than 5 meters (16 feet) across. Smaller icebergs, known as bergy bits and growlers, can be especially dangerous for ships because they are harder to spot. The North Atlantic and the cold waters surrounding Antarctica are home to most of the icebergs on Earth.”

Antarctica – Neko Harbour icebergs and glaciers. The word “iceberg” comes from a partial Dutch translation meaning “ice mountain.”

Captured on the way to gorgeous Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The photographer wrote, “The battleship iceberg #4 along the Alsek river. Day #11 of rafting along the Alsek river, Alaska.” NPS explained, “Colors betray a berg’s nature or origin. White bergs hold many trapped air bubbles. Blue bergs are dense and are likely recently calved. Greenish-blackish bergs may have calved off glacier bottoms. Dark-striped brown bergs carry morainal rubble – rocks that the glacier acquired on its journey down the mountain.”

Black striped iceberg in Jökulsárlón. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve service added, “How high a berg floats depends upon its size, the ice’s density, and the water’s density. Bergs may be weighed down or even submerged by rock and rubble. A modest-looking berg may suddenly loom enormous – and endanger small craft – when it rolls over. Boaters and especially kayakers should keep in mind that what one sees is ‘just the tip of the iceberg’.”

Stranded iceberg at sunrise on Hudson Bay, Churchill, Manitoba.

Meltwater channel in the Greenland ice sheet. EIS field assistant, Adam LeWinter on NE rim of Birthday Canyon, atop feature called “Moab”. Greenland Ice Sheet, July 2009. Black deposit in bottom of channel is cryoconite. Birthday Canyon is approximately 150 feet deep. According to the Telegraph, Dr. Tad Pfeffer, a glaciologist with the University of Colorado, and photographer James Balog, of the Extreme Ice Survey, have photographs and video to show “That the climate is changing because of global warming is now irrefutable in legitimate scientific circles. You cannot argue with photographic evidence that a glacier in Greenland which had receded eight miles in 100 years has now shrunk a further nine miles in the past 10 years.” As seen below, there is also a documentary called Chasing Ice.

Antartica iceberg below and above. NOAA said, “The planet’s greatest stores of freshwater lie far away from the arid, heavily populated regions that need it the most. Nearly 70% of all fresh water is locked in the polar ice caps. Just the new icebergs that form every year around Antarctica hold enough water to meet the needs of every person on Earth for several months. Longstanding proposals to tow icebergs to lower latitudes where their valuable water can be harvested have been met with both skepticism and interest. To date, no successful attempts have been made. This water also has the advantage of being very pure, since most of the ice formed before the Industrial Revolution.”

Aerial of humpback whale blowing next to iceberg in Greenland.

Sailboat seen through huge iceberg cave.

An iceberg graveyard in Antarctica. It’s been dubbed a graveyard since many icebergs die there.

Iceberg Interior.

Seal on an iceberg at Gerlache strait, Andvord Bay. The Iceberg Finder states, “90% of them are underwater. Find the rest here.”

Jade and striped icebergs. “When seawater at depths of more than 1,200 feet freezes to the underside of massive ice shelves like East Antarctica’s Amery Ice Shelf, it forms ‘marine ice.’ Enormous hunks of ice calve—or break off—from the ice shelf, creating icebergs. When one of these icebergs overturns, its jade underside is revealed. The wondrous color of this ‘marine ice’ results from organic matter dissolved in the seawater at those great depths,” explained Audubon Magazine. “Green icebergs are infrequently seen because their verdant bellies are underwater; it’s only when they flip over, a rare event, that their richly colored regions can be seen before they melt. Striped icebergs, perhaps even more scarce than jade bergs, are thought to form in one of two ways: either meltwater refreezes in crevasses formed atop glaciers before they calve icebergs (creating blue stripes), or seawater freezes inside cracks beneath ice shelves (creating green stripes).”

You know the name that cloud game? What do you see in this massive iceberg? A a tree, mushroom, or just a huge chunk of ice? Icebergs tend to range from about 3.3 to 246 ft above sea level and weigh 100,000 to 200,000 metric tons. The smallest icebergs are about the size of an economy car and are called growlers. Bergy bits are next smallest and can be the size of a small house. After that, icebergs are just called small, medium, large or very large.

This iceberg near Antarctica was tagged with: “This photo was taken on November 6, 2009 in a mysterious place with no name.” Only about 1/9th of the volume of an iceberg is above water.

Iceberg with a resting group of Adelie penguins. The iceberg consists of blue ice, indicating that this is very old ice from deeper parts of the Antarctic ice sheet. Image was taken in the northern part of the Weddell Sea, Southern Ocean, Antarctica during expedition ANT-VIII/3 of the German research vessel POLARSTERN.

Aerial view from helicopter of icebergs at Cape York, Greenland.

Antarctica, icebergs in Gerlache strait. The U.S. National Ice Center has a database of Current Antarctic Iceberg Positions. “The Southern Hemisphere Iceberg database is updated weekly with the latest iceberg information posted by 1200 every Friday. Please note that there are times when no imagery is available in the area of a specific iceberg in a given week and the information cannot be updated. Every iceberg is tracked, and when imagery is available, information is updated and posted.”

“When an iceberg reaches warm waters, the new climate attacks it from all sides. On the iceberg surface, warm air melts snow and ice into pools called melt ponds that can trickle through the iceberg and widen cracks. At the same time, warm water laps at the iceberg edges, melting the ice and causing chunks of ice to break off. On the underside, warmer waters melt the iceberg from the bottom up,” wrote the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “Icebergs can develop into a variety of shapes as they break apart.”

Bald eagle on iceberg. Glacier Bay NPS wrote, “Huge icebergs may last a week or more. They provide perches for bald eagles, cormorants, and gulls, as well as haul-outs for seals. When passing close by, kayakers can hear splashes and crackles as melting water drips and the ice deteriorates. The ice pops and sizzles as it releases ancient air first trapped between the delicate snowflakes and then frozen in under pressure – a phenomenon called ‘bergie seltzer’.”

Uummannaq, North Greenland, houses overlooking icebergs in summer.

Adventuring deeper into the wilds of Patagonia. Perito Moreno glacier as seen from the edge of Lago Argentino. The photographer wrote, “Every few minutes, you could hear giant shards of ice cleave off and drop into the lake below.”

Icebergs and sea ice, looks tranquil and quiet, but bergs are both unpredictable and loud.

Birth of an iceberg. The photographer wrote, “Near the Upsala glacier… El Calafate, Argentina, our boat had just passed this large ice berg, when i heard a loud boom and cracking sound, the series follows… a spectacular moment!”

Architetture glaciali – Glaciar Upsala. The photographer added, “The amazing creativity of nature. The Tempanos in front of the front of the glacier Upsala took incredible shapes and colors … and the size: this was about 15 meters high..”

Boat Trip To Cuverville Island (AKA Iceberg Fiesta).

Photographer showing with one photo, more than a thousand reasons to visit Greenland. Glacier calving in Greenland produces about 12,000 to 15,000 icebergs every year.

Fluke and iceberg. NSIDC monitors iceberg dangers to ships and wrote, “The International Ice Patrol (IIP) tracks, plots and predicts iceberg positions in the North Atlantic Ocean. The IIP area of responsibility is 40 to 52 degrees North, 39 to 57 degrees West. During several years (1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, and 1989) individual icebergs were ‘tagged’ with buoys developed by the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center. The motion of the icebergs bearing the USCG buoys were then tracked via satellite. Observation periods range from one week to two years depending on the buoy.” The IIP was formed in 1914 in response to the Titanic disaster

The photographer wrote, “Icebergs in the High Arctic. The image was sent to a glaciologist , Thomas Allen Neumann. It is what he wrote about the coloration of the iceberg: It’s too red to be oxidation (like blood falls in Taylor Valley).The debris loading isn’t particularly extensive (the apparent slip plane is interesting, or perhaps a former water channel), but the color is usual. Red algae would be a good guess. Two colleagues have also seen your photo and suggested the majority of the debris was from, ah, biological activity. Specifically, they suggested the reddish appearance may be due to walrus excrement. That would explain the color, but perhaps not the discoloration along the band through the iceberg.”

The photographer called this “My favorite place on Iceland. Unbelievable quiet, calm & peaceful.”

Left: ZERO wind AutoKAP in Auyuituiq Park, Bafin Island. It’s also handy in spotting icebergs ahead so the voyage isn’t Titanic. Right: Striped columns of an Antarctica iceberg.

“Love floats,” the photographer called this heart-shaped iceberg. “At the least the white, cold and sharp kind does, rather aimlessly. The red, hot and smooth kind sinks directly into your heart. That’s my guess, not that I know much about these things =P.”

Aerial of icebergs in Uummannaq Greenland.

Small boat in ice near immense icebergs in Antarctica.

Icebergs, Ilulissat in Greenland. On average, icebergs that are birthed from the glaciers of western Greenland have an interior temperature of -15 to -20 °C (5 to -4 °F). It would be interesting to see if any brave souls participated in a polar bear plunge here.

Iceberg around Cape York.

Iceberg in Antarctic waters

Incredibly beautiful icebergs and waves in gorgeous Greenland.

Isfjeld in Sydgrønland near the town of Narsaq.

Icebergs in Pleneau Bay Antarctica.

Icebergs near Tasiilaq.

Outback Iceland.

Antarctica iceberg.

Iceberg green and white stripes.

Close to Upsala glacier some icebergs.

The photographer wrote, “While we watched the big animals between 4 icebergs, we saw some other people 30-50 meters from them, on a big ice-float. We quickly jumped up on that ice-float and took pictures while the adrenalin was pumping!”

Icebergs by dog sled, Greenland.

North Greenland. Wikipedia states that “Non-tabular icebergs have different shapes, and include: Dome: An iceberg with a rounded top; Pinnacle: An iceberg with one or more spires; Wedge: An iceberg with a steep edge on one side and a slope on the opposite side; Dry-Dock: An iceberg that has eroded to form a slot or channel; and Blocky: An iceberg with steep, vertical sides and a flat top. It differs from tabular icebergs in that its shape is more like a block than a flat sheet.”

Icebergs Antarctica White Blocks Coast Penguins Fog Lodge.

Icebergs around Cape York, Greenland. The icebergs are beautiful and display many interesting shapes. You could see the iceberg with a hole at the image. The hole was caused by weathering effects – erosion by waves, wind and melting

Calm sea at sunset, Greenland icebergs and boat.

Humpback Whale Sunset

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