Astola Island
Pakistan · Balochistan · 75 m
Description
Astola is the largest offshore island Pakistan has, a tilted table of rock thirty-five kilometres out from Pasni that the Baloch call Haft Talar for its seven small summits. It was declared the country's first marine protected area in 2017. The northern beach is a green turtle rookery with hundreds of nests in a season and hawksbills come ashore too, and the reef around the cliffs is the clearest diving on the coast. There is no fresh water and nobody lives there. Boats take about three hours each way from Pasni. The island is a low tilted slab whose highest point stands only seventy-five metres above the sea.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 2 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: November – March
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Boat crossing from Pasni
- Green turtle nesting on the north beach
- Diving and snorkelling off the cliffs
- Camping overnight on the plateau
- Seven summits of Haft Talar
- Cliff colonies of gulls and terns
- Hindu shrine to Devi on the height
- Night sky with no light at all
- Reef fish and rays in the shallows
Getting there
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry