Wednesday Pirate's Tidbits: Which Islands Are Real?

Ever wonder which of the many islands in the Pirate's movies are real and where they were filmed?  I was actually quite curious about this so I decided I would check into it.  Surprise, surprise...many are quite real.  Here's a list of what I found on a few favorite piratey locations.

 

Isla de Meurta

The first place I looked at was Port Royal.  A good share of the first two movies were set in this location.  Port Royal did exist under British rule (shocking I know).  It was located at the mouth of Kingston Harbour in southeastern Jamaica.  It existed from 1518-1907 when a hurricane, fires and an earthquake wiped it out.  That would have been a really bad year.  The Port Royal scenes for the movies were shot mostly in St. Vincent and the Grenadines where a town set was built around actual fort ruins.

Isla Cruces

The second place I looked at was Tortuga.  It does exist off the northern coast of Haiti and I wrote a travel piece on it several weeks back.  It is the pirate port to end all pirate ports and is mentioned or visited in all four movies.  It was said a man would never feel lonely if he spent time there.  I was kind of wondering what the women thought about that.  It was filmed on studio sets.

Singapore is the last of the real islands in the Pirates movies.  The word conjours up images of a bustling Asian setting.  Interestingly, in the time period the movies are set in, Singapore was actually just a Malay fishing village called Temasek, not the grand Chinese city portrayed.  It was also filmed on studio sets.  

My favorite fictional island is the Isla de Muerta or island of death.  It is where the pirates hid their treasure and where the cursed Aztec gold is. The island cannot to be found except by those who already know where it's hidden.  (Sounds like laundry socks to me)  The scene near the end in Pirates 1 where Jack and Barbossa are fighting, is my second all time favorite in the Pirate's movies.  It was...also filmed on studio sets. 

I'm reading through these and thinking, "Did they actually go to the Caribbean to film?  I mean, really, get out there."  Of course they did.  Here's a list of some of the fictional islands and where they were shot.

Pelagosto:  The island in Pirates 2 with the cannibals.  It was filmed in Dominica.

Isla Cruces:  The island in Pirates 2 where the chest containing Davey Jones' heart was buried.  It was shot in Dominica and Great Exuma, Bahamas.

Dead Kraken Isle/Black Sand Beach:  The island in Pirates 3 where Jack and Barbossa stop for water and find yes, the dead Kraken.  Filmed in Capucine Point, Dominica (Can't fake that black sand.)

Black Sam's Spit/Rumrunner's Isle:  Island Jack was marooned twice on in Pirates 1 by Barbossa and where Jack maroons Angelica in Pirates 4.  It was shot in the Bahamas not far from Disney's private island.

Davey Jones Locker:  In pirates 3 where Jack thinks he has gone mad and is eventually rescued from.  Filmed at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
And Finally:  Pirates 4 was shot mostly on location in Kauai and Oahu, Hawaii.  It was done filming about a month before I got here.  I was bummed.  Other lush scenes in some of the pirates movies were shot around Molakai.

So, hope you enjoyed a list of a few of the islands, real and fictional, and where they were filmed.  I haven't been to Dominica and I've decided, I need to go.  Always wanted to, just didn't get there before I moved.  My last comment is I have no idea how they wore some of those heavy costumes in that humidity and heat.  I complain if I have to put pants or a long sleeved shirt on.  Later Mates!