Travel
5 of The Best: Private Island
Parrot Cay - Turks & Caicos
- Ese James
Covering 1,000 acres of unspoilt wetlands, with a mile of flour
white sandy beach, Parrot Cay is the celebrity island of choice.
Donna Karan, Bruce Willis and Keith Richards all own their own
homes here none coming in at less than a cool 10 million dollars... and Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz have
been seen here on many an occasion. What brings in the celebs? It’s not really hard to see why. After a half an hour speedboat ride, where dolphins leap around the boat, you arrive in
your own slice of paradise. Deserted stretches of perfect beach.
In fact, you’d think it couldn’t get any more idyllic but if you head
there from Easter to June, the whole island bursts into fragrant
flower.
North Island - Seychelles
Few places can match the North Island in the Seychelles for
absolute seclusion the fact the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge picked it for their honeymoon speaks volumes about
its privacy. The sandy island in the Indian Ocean is part of
the Seychelles archipelago, and is off-limits to everyone bar
a few staff that work in the hotels here and their guests. It all
feels more than a bit Shipwrecked albeit, a little more lavish
and luxurious.
Amanpulo - Philippines
Amanpulo in the Philippines is certainly the smallest in our pick of
the best private islands. It’s just 500 metres across at its widest point
and is the picture postcard image of everything you imagined a
private island to be. Emerald waters lap over the white sands of the
palm-tree fringed island, and the only way to get here is by private
plane. But then you probably didn’t expect anything less.
Bodu Hithi - Maldives
This is a tiny, idyllic gem of an island. In the thousands of
miles of Indian Ocean, Coco Palm is the ultimate in tropical getaways a place of coconut-lined white shores and the
bluest of blue waters, where it's easy to forget the real world
even exists. Add in the fact that there’s almost year-round
heat and we’re looking at flights there. Right now...
Lizard Island - Australia
Australia's obviously not short of blissed-out islands of crystal waters and beautiful reefs. If we had to pick a favourite, though, it
would probably b e Lizard Island. The private island sits 17 miles
off-shore, has direct access to the Great Barrier Reef and no fewer
than 24 beaches. Named by Captain Cook (when he passed it in
1770), it’s now a protected National Park teeming with wildlife. Plus,
if you get bored of lazing in the beating sun on sandy shores (as if...)
then you can take a boat trip to the infamous Cod Hole, which has
some of the best known scuba diving in the world.
24 | Choice Options