Mystery Island Tour Guide: List of Mystery Island Types

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) Mystery Island Tours are tours that you can redeem with a Nook Miles Ticket, taking you to different mystery island types. Read on to learn what kind of islands there are in Mystery Island Tours and more!

Types of Mystery Islands

This is a list of all islands currently confirmed to exist on Mystery Island Tours. Take note that the apperance rate of islands and critters depend on the date and time.

Jump to a section!
Normal Island 1	Tarantula Island
Normal Island 2	Scorpion Island with Gold Nuggets
Bamboo Island	Scorpion Island with Money Rocks
Rare Flower Island	Coelacanth Island
Island with Many Waterfalls	Big Fish Island
Island with Dorsal-Finned Fish	Spiral Pond Island
Island with Hybrid Flowers and Emperor Butterflies	Fruit Tree Island
Money Rock Island	Island with Tall Cliffs
Trash Island	Island with a Waterfall at the Back
May Day Tour Island	-

Normal Mystery Island 1

Appearance Rate	Very Common
Island Characteristics
Has the same fruit native to your island Usually has the same kinds of flowers as your island Has rivers requiring a vaulting pole Usually has a visitor that you can invite to your island

Normal Mystery Island 2

Appearance Rate	Very Common
Island Characteristics
There is a waterfall at the front Usually has the same kinds of flowers as your island Has a cliff that requires a ladder

Bamboo Island

Appearance Rate	Common
Island Characteristics
All the island's trees are Bamboo, which can be pulled up with a shovel to be replanted on your island Ideal for creating your own Tarantula Island

Rare Flower Island

Appearance Rate	Very Rare ★
Island Characteristics
Flowers which can normally only be obtained by crossbreeding grow natively. You can use a shovel to pull up flowers and replant them on your island.

Island with Many Waterfalls

Appearance Rate	Uncommon
Island Characteristics
The island has a lot of waterfalls River Fish that appear above the cliff are easier to catch You can catch the Stringfish (Unconfirmed by Game8)

Island with Dorsal-Finned Fish

Appearance Rate	Rare
Island Characteristics
All Fish found on the island Dorsal-Finned The island also has a shape like a dorsal fin All varieties of Sharks and Ocean Sunfish can be caught (Ocean Sunfish don't sell for much, so target the Sharks to sell for Bells) Can yield more money than hunting Tarantulas

Island with Hybrid Flowers and Emperor Butterflies

Appearance Rate	Very Rare★
Island Characteristics
Flowers which can normally only be obtained by crossbreeding grow natively. You can use a shovel to pull up flowers and replant them on your island. Emperor Butterflies spawn infinitely There is a central lake where Koi can be fished All-around most beautiful island!

Money Rock Island

Appearance Rate	Uncommon
Island Characteristics
Bells come out from all of the rocks you hit. Use a shovel or axe to hit the rocks 8 times each. There are five rocks in the center of the island A vaulting pole is required to get to the center

Trash Island

Appearance Rate	Rare
Island Characteristics
You can only fish Trash/Garbage items. Fishing up Trash gives you new DIY recipe ideas. The Trash you fish up depends on the fish shadow sizes Giant Water Bugs also spawn

Tarantula Island

Appearance Rate	Very Rare★
Island Characteristics
Tarantulas spawn infinitely Even if you get stung, you'll respawn on the Mystery Island Tour, so you can try as many times as you need to catch them An update added Giant Water Bugs to the island, making less Tarantulas spawn

Scorpion Island with Gold Nuggets

Appearance Rate	Very Rare★
Island Characteristics
Scorpions spawn infinitely Even if you get stung, you'll respawn on the Mystery Island Tour, so you can try as many times as you need to catch them There's a pond with a single rock in the middle Only Gold Nuggets come out of the rock. These are extremely rare and valuable, so be sure to bring them back with you.

Scorpion Island with Money Rocks

Thank you to the user who provided us with this photo!

Appearance Rate	Very Rare★
Island Characteristics
Scorpions spawn infinitely Even if you get stung, you'll respawn on the Mystery Island Tour, so you can try as many times as you need to catch them Only Bells come out of the rocks. Be sure to hit each rock 8 times.

Coelacanth Island

Appearance Rate	Under Investigation
Island Characteristics
Coelacanths are easy to catch Although Coelacanths usually appear on rainy days, they were caught even in sunny weather It is still unkown if their supply is infinite here

Big Fish Island

Appearance Rate	Rare
Island Characteristics
Fish with large fish shadow sizes appear You can fish Black Bass in the river You can fish Oarfish from the ocean From the bridge, you can fish Tuna and Blue Marlin To fish from the bridge, you need to bring Fish Bait

(Provided by commenter)

Spiral Pond Island

Appearance Rate	Under Investigation
Island Characteristics
There is a pond with a spiral shape We caught Coelacanths here even in sunny weather (Can be caught on other island tour types) Probably no other special traits

Fruit Tree Island

Appearance Rate	Under Investigation
Island Characteristics
The island only has Fruit Trees The Fruit is guaranteed to be different from your local or native Fruit. You can only get 1 new type of fruit from these islands.

(Provided by commenter)

Island with Tall Cliffs

Appearance Rate	Under Investigation
Island Characteristics
There's a large pond in the middle of the island There's a cliff on the top left of the island There is no waterfall No other special traits or rare critters to speak of

Island with a Waterfall at the Back

Appearance Rate	Under Investigation
Island Characteristics
There is a left-facing waterfall found on the right backside of the island No other special traits to speak of

May Day Tour Island

Appearance Rate	Available only during the May Day event on May 1 to May 7, 2020
Island Characteristics
Go to a May Day Tour using a one-time May Day Ticket at the airport. Island characteristics will be drastically different from the usual Mystery Tour islands as listed above. A special character named Rover can be seen on the island.

May Day Event Info and Rewards

Have You Been to a Different Mystery Island?

Mystery Tours lead to various islands with many different features and fruits. It's likely that many more rare Mystery Island Tour islands exist that have yet to be discovered.

Send us more info in the comments!

When you've come across one of these rare islands, be sure to post in the comments with a picture to help keep us up to date on the latest and greatest info!

Thank you to the commenters who provided information and images!

See the Comments (174)

Accessible Mystery Islands May Depend on Date and Time

Note that accessible islands may change based on the date and time.

For example, Tarantulas only appear from January to April or from November to December in the Northern Hemisphere, and spawn at night, it's likely that these conditions are required to visit the Tarantula Island.

If you're planning on hunting for a certain rare island, it might be worth it to try changing the Date and Time Setting on your Nintendo Switch first.
How to Change the Date and Time

Coelacanths Can Be Caught Even When It's Not Raining

Coelacanths are normally caught during rainy days on your island or other islands. On Mystery Islands, you can catch them even when it's sunny!

If you're aiming for the big catch, your best bet is to fish on a remote island.

What To Do on a Mystery Island Tour

Collect Materials Easily

All kinds of Materials can be found on a Mystery Island Tour. Iron and Gold Nuggets can be difficult to collect due to the limited number of rocks on one's island, so consider going on a Mystery Island Tour to collect more.
List of DIY Materials

Event Materials Can Be Collected

In addition to the materials used for regular DIY, you can easily obtain the materials you need to craft the limited furniture from seasonal events. If you happen to run out of materials on your island, just hop on to a Mystery Island for more!

Invite Villagers to your Island

New residents found on Mystery Islands can be invited to come live on your island. When you talk to the same resident twice, you'll get the option to invite them back!

Max Villagers and How to Get New Villagers to Move In

Take Fruit Home With You

On a Mystery Island Tour, you'll sometimes find Fruits different from those native to your island.

Be sure to grab these when you find these and take them back to your own island to plant and sell for a higher price.

Consider trading your found items online to other players, to get every different kinds of fruit tree on your island!
Recipe and Fruit Trading Board

Take Rare Flowers

If you manage to find one of the island where flowers with rare colors bloom, be sure to take some back with you. These can usually only be gotten through Cross Pollination, which requires both time and luck, so it's a great find!

You'll have to use a shovel to dig up the entire flower to bring it home.

How to Make Hybrid Flowers

Take Home Furniture

If you shake a tree on a Mystery Island, one piece of furniture will fall off each time you go to an island tour (except for bamboo islands that only have bamboo trees).

Make sure you shake all the trees for a free piece of furniture before you leave. Be careful, though, as each island also has a chance to drop a Wasp Nest!

Take Home Critters

Find fish and bugs different from those found on your island on a Mystery Island Tour, so catch as many of these as possible.

It's much easier to catch insects on a Mystery Island since the area of the island is narrow.

Forgot a Fishing Rod or a Net? You can craft these using the DIY Crafting Table (located near the airport on every Mystery Island Tour island) or by talking to Wilbur, the Dodo Airlines pilot, who will sell you Flimsy tools for 100 Miles each.

Rare bugs are easier to catch in the rain!

If it happens to rain while you're out on a mystery island, bring out your net and keep an eye on bugs.

Common insects like fireflies don't appear in the rain, so rare bugs like the tarantula are more likely to appear. Siince the area of the island is much smaller than your home island, it will be easier to spot one and sneak up on them!

What to Bring on a Mystery Island Tour

Best Tools to Bring

Tools to Bring on a Mystery Island Tour
Net	Fishing Rod	Vaulting Pole
Shovel	Ladder	-

It's best to have all your most important tools on hand when going on a Mystery Island Tour.

Craft or Buy Tools on the Island

If you'd prefer to have your inventory completely empty before you leave, head to the island first and craft the items you need there.

A DIY Workbench will always be available on the Mystery Island Tour island to craft the tools you need there from the Materials available on the island.

Otherwise, a Flimsy version of the Net, Axe, Shovel, or Fishing Rod can be bought from Wilbur for a fee of 100 Miles apiece.

This is especially important if you get sent to a bamboo island, where you cannot acquire any tree branch. Keep this in mind when going out on tours!

Tips and Tricks for Mystery Island Tours

Don't Forget a Vaulting Pole

When going on a Mystery Island Tour, a variety of rivers will surround you, limiting your movement.

If you go on a Mystery Island Tour before unlocking the Vaulting Pole, it might end up being a waste of your Ticket, so be sure to get the Vaulting Pole first before embarking on one.
How to Get the Vaulting Pole

The Island You Visit is Random

Spring Island	Bamboo Island
Enlarge	Enlarge

These are examples of possible islands.

There are a variety of Mystery Island Tour islands available, and it's random which of the islands you will visit, so you'll need to be prepared for anything!

Empty Your Pockets

When visiting a Mystery Island Tour island, you'll want to bring as many items as possible home with you, so be sure your inventory has as much space as possible.

Without leaving behind any of the tools you'll need, bring a mostly empty bag to the island.

Also consider purchasing the Pocket Organization Guide first to get an extra 10 slots in your inventory before going!

How to Increase Inventory Space

Why Are There No Villagers on Mystery Islands?

It's not always guaranteed that an island will have a villager. If you don't have an available house on your island, villagers will not appear on mystery islands.

If you're looking to recruit a villager during one of your tours, make sure that your island has enough available space.
How to Get Villagers to Move In

Some Islands Have No Villagers

On a Mystery Island Tour, sometimes you'll encounter an island with no Villagers at all.

If you're going on a Mystery Island Tour to try to recruit new Villagers, consider using an amiibo+ card instead to add new Villagers without the risk of wasting your Miles on a Nook Miles Ticket.
List of amiibos and Compatibility

You Will Leave the Island When You Quit the Game

Your Mystery Island Tour has no time limit, but if you need to turn off your Switch for any reason, your trip will be over.

Be sure to go on a Mystery Island Tour at a point when you won't need to turn off your Switch soon, and try to get everything done before you do so!

You Cannot Use the Item Delivery and Liquidation Services

Dodo Airlines added a new feature to lighten the load off your pockets; the Item Delivery and Liquidation services.

As of now, this feature is only available when you are on Harv's Island. Sadly, you cannot use this on Mystery Island Tours.

Item Delivery	Send items from your pockets straight to your home storage for free.
Item Liquidation	Sell items from your pockets with the price you would get via the drop-off box of Nook's Cranny.

How to Use a Nook Miles Ticket

Go On a Mystery Island Tour

When visiting another island on a Mystery Island Tour, you can use a Nook Miles Ticket. After playing your initial loan of 5,000 Miles, Tom Nook will give you one of these tickets for free.

In addition, you can buy another any time from the Nook Stop in Resident Services for 2,000 Miles.

How to Get Nook Miles Fast

Related Guides

All Tips & Tricks

Activities

Activities
List of NookPhone Apps	Mystery Island Tour Guide
How to Unlock Reactions	How to Send Letters and Postcards
How to Get Shooting Stars | Meteor Shower Guide	Lost Item Guide
Party Play | Local Multiplayer	Online Play
What Can You Do Online?	How to Raise Friendship | Activities with Villagers
How to Play Treasure Hunt	Swimming and Diving
Player Birthday Party | What Happens on Your Birthday?	What Happens on a Villager's Birthday
Dream Suite Guide - How to Visit Islands in Dreams	How to Add Friends
Pumpkin Guide | How to Grow Pumpkins	-