Inside ‘The Most Remote Homestead on Earth’ in the Middle of the Pacific

Deep in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway from the eastern seaboard of Australia and the western coast of South America, there’s a string of remote islands.

In fact, they’re not even technically islands; they’re low-lying atolls.

And one of them – Ahe Atoll – hosts “the most remote homestead on earth.” It houses the Humbert family, three generations of pearl farmers, who made the isolated, tropical landmass their home decades ago with very little (physical) contact to the outside world. Below, take a peek inside the lives of this modern-day Robinson Crusoe ménage.

The family runs Kamoka, a pearl farming and distribution brand, with necklaces ranging from a couple hundred dollars up to nearly $14,000. And through the decades they’ve dealt with the volatility of the pearl market, shark attacks during dives, family business disputes, and living nearly completely off-the-grid. Here’s a little more on their story:

“Kamoka pearl farm is located on the atoll of Ahe, a ring of coral that juts a few feet above sea level and encircles a 75-square-mile lagoon. Ahe is located 300 miles northeast of Tahiti in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The kindness of the people and the surreal nature of the sea, land and sky make Ahe the essence of a tropical paradise.

“The Humbert family sailed to Ahe in the early 1970's on a homemade, ferro-cement hull sailboat. We immediately fell in with the islanders who offered us a beautiful sandy islet where we could settle down and build a palm-leaf house. Loic, the eldest son (who was five years old) went to the only elementary school on the island but Josh was only two and too young for school and thus he started a lifelong love affair with the ocean and its inhabitants.”

And all these years later, the Humbert family is still going strong – so far from the daily, metropolitan realities of most humans, yet, in total paradise.