The island's multiple name changes are a perfect reflection of its colourful history. The Lucayan Indians initially named the island Guanahani. Then, in 1492, when Columbus made his first landfall in the New World he named it San Salvador, or Holy Saviour, which he noted in his travel journal and described as follows: "the beauty of these islands surpasses that of any other and as much as the day surpasses the night in splendour".
Today, four separate monuments mark the exact spots where he came ashore, although it is generally thought that he landed at Long Bay, where a large stone cross now stands. However, when the British pirate captain George Watling took over the island, making it his headquarters, he renamed it Watling Island after himself, which is how things remained until 1925, when it reverted to the name San Salvador.
