If you’ve done a sterling job at work, you may get a pat on the back or at best a couple of hundred rands bonus in your salary cheque. However if you work for mega-bucks Richie Rich Branson, you’ll get a holiday on your boss's private island. Virgin’s Branson has recently bought a tropical island in Australia for his staff to use as a relaxation retreat.

According to AFP, Branson said he planned to set up a $3.2-million eco-tourism haven on Makepeace Island for Virgin's 25 000 staff as "a heartfelt thanks to the Virgin team".

He is thought to have paid about AUS$3.1-million for the 25 hectare island, which lies in the main channel of the Noosa river on Queensland state's Sunshine Coast tourist strip.

Not exactly a bustling metropolis, the island has a swimming pool and one timber house. But my guess it won’t stay very sparse for much longer.

Local council documents reveal Makepeace Island, which Branson said was "in the shape of a giant heart", used to go by the less poetic name of Pig Island, because early settlers herded their swine there.

But if you’re not about to be offered a Virgin career, then your chances of frolicking on Makepeace are pretty slim. However you don’t need to board Branson’s boat in order to get to the other island he owns (two islands, can you believe it???) You just need a couple of cool mill.

Guests at Branson's Necker island pay up to $15 000 a night to hire it out when he's not there. Residents have included Harrison Ford, Belinda Carlisle, Oprah, Spielberg, and George Michael so who knows who you'll run into during your stay.

Another celeb paradise is Marlon Brando’s primitive island oasis of Tetiaroa in Tahiti. Brando bought the small island in the 1960’s to escape the superficiality of Hollywood. He now lives in simple style with his wife, two children, and a ham radio in a thatched hut near a sleepy blue lagoon.

As far as accessibility to celeb islands go, this one is probably the easiest. You don’t have a choice of accommodation – there are only 13 palm-thatched bungalows to houseguests but activities are varied including: swimming, snorkeling, windsurfing and an excursion by boat across the lagoon to the bird sanctuary. And R315 000 a week is a small price to pay for the chance of seeing Brando dressed in native garb with a frangipani blossom tucked behind his ear.

Let's go shopping... for an island

But if you can’t get an invite to a superstar isle, then why not buy one for yourself.

According to John Greer of Unusual Villas & Island Rentals, one of several sites featuring sales or rentals of private islands, you don’t have to be Ted Turner to own your own sand spit. Not all the islands are reserved for the rich and famous.

Musha Cay
Apparently if you’re a serious island buyer, then Bahamas is the place to pick. It has zero income tax and is a democratic and stable member of the Commonwealth.

Horse Lake Island
But while your credit limit may not be able to extend to buy Musha Cay Resort, a 150-acre opulent isle in the Bahamas accommodating 25 guests for the princely sum of $56.5-million, you can pick up the single acre Horse Lake Island plus some mainland territory in Nova Scotia in Canada for a steal at €25 600.

Vladi Private Islands of Hamburg, has sold more than 600 islands over the last 25 years and has thousands of private islands to buy or rent on their database. They explain the popularity of this new isle trend saying: "Islands have no numbers, no civic address. Islands have names and are miniature worlds within their own souls."

Okay, I’m sold!

But before you dive into the island market, keep these pointers in mind:

FOR SALE: White island in Grenada.

A Caribbean pearl located amidst a sailing and diving paradise.

PRICE: $1.4-million


(Click image to view enlargement)

  • Remember that an island at the bottom of the price range may be priced as so due to its inaccessibility, lack of habitable buildings and may not even have its own water supply.
  • Do some research first and above all, talk to the locals to find out if it’s possible to live there.
  • Make sure you have permission from the local council to build and renovate on the island. You may be king of the isle, but if you don’t have council go-ahead, then you’re stuck.
  • But if you do at some stage want to move back to the mainland, re-selling an island is rarely difficult and you should easily make back your investment.

    Visit Vladi Private Islands to shop for the ultimate in status symbols.

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