Above the tumbling dunes at Yorke Bay an RAF Typhoon screeched towards the South Atlantic. My companion waved at the aircraft and the pilot, spotting us, responded by waggling the jet’s wings in a friendly ‘hello’.

Welcome to the new Falkland Islands, where the military may still be in place four decades after the failed 1982 Argentine invasion, but years of stability have created a peaceful haven just waiting to be explored.

And Yorke Bay, a crescent of sand just outside the capital, Stanley, is a symbolic spot in this British Overseas Territory’s revival. For while its beach had long been no-go due to Argentinian mines, these have finally been cleared, allowing locals and tourists to enjoy the fine scenery.

‘I never dreamed I would stand here,’ said Daniel Biggs, owner of Falklands Outdoors, one of the many new tour companies. ‘I used to look through the fence and think it would never be safe.’

But it is now — and the ‘Suspect area, out of bounds’ signs are gone. Yet the question remains: why would you travel 8,000 miles to visit this remote archipelago (population 3,200) in the South Atlantic?

The answer is simple: to see some of the most spectacular marine life in the world, and to experience the…