Island Hopping: A Journey to Owning Your Own Private Island

Soaking up the sun on an island is the perfect vacation for many and I have spent the last few months filming on these beautiful locations. But what if that tropical paradise could be all yours, year round? More than a few of you have asked me about how one would go about buying a private retreat – so if you have cash to burn, and a lot of patience, owning a private island could be right for you.

Now you don’t have to be a millionaire to purchase an island, some can be bought for $50,000 around Canada and the US. But it you want a sizable island in the Caribbean, be prepared to fork over a number anywhere from six to eight digits long. The internet has made shopping for islands fairly simple these days. Websites like Private Islands Inc and Vladi Private Islands both make searching for the perfect slice of tropical heaven easy.

For example, you can buy this private cay in the Andros Islands, Bahamas for $720,000 with 2 active water wells, a concrete pad and lots of fish.  Or if you are looking for a place to hang your very expensive hats, how about Spectabilis Island in the Exumas for a cool $62 mill. Its 460 acres of undeveloped land, with a deep natural port perfect for docking your mega yacht…because if you have sixty-two million dollars to throw down on an island I am sure you already have a giant ostentatious yacht.

Just buying an island doesn’t mean you can move right in. Many of these islands are uninhabited and have no roads, no plumbing, no electricity and no structures. And building on an island poses all sorts of issues. EVERYTHING has to be shipped in, from building supplies to the large ground moving machines, even the workers need to be brought over. You will need to set up your own waste management system, solar power (ideally in a way that does not disrupt the health of the island’s wildlife) and of course there is food delivery, just to name a few things on your private island “to do” list.

But if you have the money, the patience and the fore-sight you can create the perfect personal hide away like Johnny Depp’s Little Hall’s Pond Cay in the Bahamas which he purchased for $3.6 million in 2004. And Richard Branson’s exquisite Necker Island in the BVIs which he purchased for $180k and spent a reported $10,000,000 and three straight years to get it just right.

Good luck in your private island search…just watch out for hurricanes and a little thing called sea-level rise.