My ultimate fantasy is to own an island. It would only have to be a tiny island...and it would be totally unplugged from civilization. I have my eyes on Green Cay in the British Virgin Islands (see photo album) which is a perfect acre of flawless white sand and reef.
This is Green Cay in the BVI taken from the boat...this is about where you have to moor, then take the dinghy in-sick
Outside Magazine's just-published "Go" special insert features an article about just this thing....privately held islands that can be rented for a weekend, or longer. These lucky island-owners are generous enough to share their private atolls.
There are 10 or 15 islands noted, but two that I will mention. One is Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands, the other a mite closer to my heart...Little Saint Simons Island, Georgia-my stomping grounds.
Taken without permission from "Outside Magazine- Go"
Guana Island/British Virgin Islands
With some of the most bountiful biodiversity of any privately owned island in the region, Guana Island fancies itself the Galpagos of the BVI. It's a tall claim, but Guana, a private nature reserve, just might live up to it, with 850 acres of lush tropical forests and unusual species like the stout, rock iguana, red-legged tortoise, and masked booby. Take it all in on a hike along the island's spiny ridge out to Long Man's Point, with picture-book views over the Atlantic and Caribbean, or in an afternoon of paddling a glass-bottom kayak over the house reefs. And if you tire of the open-air attractions, the comforts of civilization, like a massage in the beach spa and a quiet spot to read in one of the two new villas, are only a few steps away. From $19,500 per night for up to 32 people; guana.com
Little Saint Simons Island/Georgia, USA
This is from where I hail....my family moved to the coast from Atlanta when I was 13 after staying the summers here forever. My dad and grandmother still live there, and I make it back about once every two years...I am headed there in April, I hope. Sadly Saint Simons is not the place it was...it has grown to the point of being unrecognizable to me. But privately-held Little Saint Simons has remained exactly the way it has always been...From "Outside":
The Berolzheimer Family has owned the Lodge at Little St. Simons for exactly 100 years, and they pride themselves on rich southern hospitality. On this pristine island off the coast of Georgia, chefs toil over a menu of lavish comfort food like chipotle-and-brown-sugar-grilled pork with apple risotto, and full-time natuarlists tailor the day's activities, including wildlife hikes, birding excursions, and fly-fishing outings, to guests' desires. Each evening, hosts greet patrons (no more the 30 at a time) at the main lodge for a Tom Collins or two before showing the visitors to one of the four cozy cottages, which started out as a hunting retreat. The most important part of the hospitality, however, is providing solitude: With seven miles of empty beach and 10,000 acres of marshlands and coastal forest, there's no shortage of that. From $7,700 per night for up to 30 people; littlestsimonsisland.com
