No phone, no cars, almost no people. Here is why tourists are paying ₹1.06 lakh to visit this ‘Ghost Island

Imagine reaching your holiday destination and realising your phone is basically useless. There is no mobile signal, no cars and only one communal Wi-Fi spot. Yet people are paying to spend two nights here, BBC reported.

Battle Harbour, a tiny island off Canada's Labrador coast, has turned being completely cut off from modern life into its biggest attraction. Once a busy fishing hub with hundreds of residents, the island is now a car-free historic retreat where visitors come to switch off and step back in time.

It is hard to imagine the island being packed with fishermen and merchants today. Battle Harbour is only about half a mile long, but it was once the centre of Labrador's fishing industry.

In the 1770s, English merchant John Slade established a trading operation here. Salt cod was processed on the island and exported to Europe, the Caribbean and beyond.

At its peak, Battle Harbour had a hospital, school, church and wireless station. Around 300 people lived here permanently, while thousands of seasonal fishermen also passed through.

But the island's fortunes eventually faded. A devastating fire in 1930, declining fish stocks and a provincial resettlement programme in the 1960s gradually emptied Battle Harbour. By the 1970s, its last year-round residents had gone.

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The final blow came on 2 July 1992, when the federal government's cod moratorium closed the fishery and instantly threw 30,000 people across Newfoundland and Labrador out of work.

No phone signal, just history

Today, Battle Harbour has restored wooden houses, old fishing stages and 16 private summer residences. But there has been no permanent population on the island for more than half a century.

Visitors can stay in historic buildings, including restored cottages and rooms in the former Merchant Building. There is no television, while the quiet of the island is often broken only by the sea and wildlife.

The island is also home to Arctic foxes. Visitors can walk along old paths, explore cemeteries and see buildings that preserve the island's fishing history.

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Getting there is part of the experience

Reaching Battle Harbour takes some effort. Travellers first fly to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, then drive for five hours to Mary's Harbour. From there, a passenger ferry takes overnight guests to the island.

The ferry journey takes 60 to 75 minutes. The boat travels past a rugged coastline where visitors may spot gulls, kittiwakes, gannets, icebergs and even humpback whales.

A two-night package for two people starts at C$1,570, or about ₹1.06 lakh. It includes accommodation, return ferry transfers, meals and a guided historical tour. Taxes and gratuities are extra.

Battle Harbour is open only from June to early September. For people used to holidays filled with phones, notifications and crowded tourist spots, this Canadian island offers something rather unusual.

You pay to go somewhere where your phone does not work, and that is exactly the point.