pirate haven
Outlaw sailors' refuge
A pirate haven is a port or territory where pirates could operate with impunity—selling stolen goods, recruiting crews, and repairing ships without fear of arrest.
Historically, places like Nassau, Tortuga, and Port Royal served as pirate havens, often tolerated by colonial authorities who profited from the trade.
The term now applies figuratively to any place that harbors illegal activity: The country has become a pirate haven for software counterfeiters.
- buccaneersCaribbean sea raiders
- sea dogsExperienced veteran mariners
- NassauBahamian seat of government
- mutinyRevolt against authority
- Port RoyalDrowned Caribbean pirate capital
smuggling · rum runners · Caribbean piracy · Madagascar · bartering · pieces of eight · code of conduct · coastal defenses · schooners · careening · looting · privateers · letters of marque · parley · hidden cove · swashbuckler · black markets · treasure maps
- Caribbean Piracybuccaneer, privateer, corsair, Port Royal, Spanish Main
- Barbary PiratesBarbary pirates, Barbary Coast, Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis
- lawless placesno-go zone, lawless zone, gang territory, failed state, rogue state
- harbor thingswharf, dock, pier, quay, lighthouse
- secret groupssecret society, cabal, Freemasons, cult, coven
- vice densbrothel, opium den, speakeasy, gambling den, crack house
pirate havencrown colony
Land ruled by monarch's government
colonial outpost · garrison town · colonial administration · naval station · sovereign territory