Isla de Muerta

"Have you not heard the stories? Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla de Muerta. It's an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is."

- Jack Sparrow to William Turner

Isla de Muerta was a phantom island in the Caribbean shaped like a skull. The crew of the Black Pearl hoarded its treasure within one of the island's vast caverns, including the cursed Chest of Cortés.

According to pirate lore, Isla de Muerta was an island marked on no map, and could only be found by those who already knew where it was. The island was constantly surrounded by a thick fog and a graveyard of wrecked ships. The island remained largely unexplored, save for the cavern used by Captain Hector Barbossa's men to store their plundered loot.

History
Jack Sparrow first told Barbossa the location of Isla de Muerta while Sparrow was Captain of the Black Pearl. In response, Barbossa led a mutiny against his Captain, and journeyed to the island leading Jack's former crew himself. There, they found the Chest of Cortés, and summarily stole all the pieces of Aztec gold located within. This act placed a curse upon the pirates, reversed only when every coin was returned to the chest and paid for in blood.

Thus, Barbossa's crew used Isla de Muerta as a base as they set about reclaiming the treasure. Following the attack on Port Royal, during which the pirates obtained the final coin, the Black Pearl set sail for Isla de Muerta. Jack Sparrow soon followed, using his compass to locate the island. As the compass revealed to the user their true desire&mdash;Jack's being freedom, here in the form of his ship, currently anchored in one of the island's bays&mdash;Jack was able to find the island and allow William Turner to rescue Elizabeth Swann.



Although Barbossa's men had been foiled, they returned to the island later, with Turner in their custody, aiming to use his blood to pay off the debt and lift the curse. Their plan was scuppered yet again by Sparrow, who killed Barbossa after Will finally lifted the curse. The surviving crew members were captured by the Royal Navy, though later escaped and became cursed once more, vowing revenge against Jack Sparrow.

Some time later, the entire island, and all the treasure it contained, was swallowed up by the ocean, effectively vanishing from the face of the earth.

Behind the scenes

 * "Isla de Muerta" translates as "Island of Dead Woman", as "muerta" in Spanish is the 'female' equivalent to the word "dead", therefore meaning a "dead woman". A more accurate wording would be "Isla de la Muerte" to mean "Island of Death", or "Isla de los Muertos" to mean "Island of the Dead".
 * The location is specified as "an island of death" in the film's first screenplay draft, in which its history is expanded: a ship carrying Cortés' treasure ran aground on the island, all but one of its crew dead. The survivor hid the treasure ashore before dying. Over time, the dark magic of the treasure cursed the island itself.
 * The treasure cave is used as the background for the bonus features menu in the At World's End video game. It is also used as the setting for the boss battle with Barbossa in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * "Isla Muerta" is one of the islands known as "The Five Deaths" in the Jurassic Park franchise.
 * La isla de la muerte is the name of the 1967 american SF/Horror movie.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * The Accidental Pirate!
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Kingdom Hearts II