Santa Isabel Island Santa Isabel Island Santa Isabel Island (also known as Isabel, Ysabel and Mahaga) is the longest in the Solomon Islands, the third largest in terms of surface area, and the largest in the group of islands in Isabel Province. Choiseul lies to the north-west, Malaita to the south-east. The Pacific Ocean lies to the north, and Guadalcanal (Isatabu) to the south. The highest point in Santa Isabel is Mount Sasari, 1220 meters (3675 ft). River Marutho runs down that mountain into the ocean at Hofi. Almost all the rivers or streams run down that center point except for those at
Choiseul Province capital of the province. When the natives first arrived and discovered the big island, they called it Lauru. Then, in 1568, the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira rediscovered the island and named it San Marcos ('Saint Mark'). Mendana himself never set foot on Lauru. He called it San Marcos, because he saw the island from Santa Isabel on the Day of Saint Mark. 200 years later in 1768, the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville saw the island again and named it Choiseul after the Minister of foreign affairs and statesman Choiseul. Today, the two most common names