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#7 Bikini Atoll, The Marshall Islands


Bikini Atoll is beautiful. The surrounding ocean shimmers and the coral captivates, but don’t be fooled. There is trouble in this Pacific paradise. Have no doubt about it, this is a dangerous destination indeed.

Sharks patrol the warm waters here, but it is on land that the greatest threat of all can be found. Exposure to harmful radiation is a constant risk.

It was here that the United States conducted controversial nuclear tests in the 1940s and 50s. Several hydrogen and atomic bombs were detonated in the remote region polluting the land and leaving a deadly legacy that remains to this day. Scientists declared it safe to return in the 1990s, but local people who left their homes long ago still refuse to return. Produce grown here is to be avoided at all costs but perhaps the safest option is to avoid the atoll altogether.

Number 6