Picture this: you fling open the shutters in the morning, shake your sleepy head and look out over your domain. Secluded, sun-kissed terrace and pool in the foreground, azure ocean in the middle distance, palm-fringed beach a few minutes away. Another day, another luxury resort, right? Not quite. For a few oligarchs, aristocrats and super-celebs, this is home. Their very own Caribbean island. It could be yours, too, provided you have the desire to live out a fantasy of private luxury. And a habitable island can be a worthwhile asset, too.

The cost
The real-estate market for this kind of Caribbean hideaway is concentrated on the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Other places to look are St Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla and Grenada. Prices, though relatively stable, have sunk significantly post-downturn. It’s a buyer’s market, especially in the Bahamas, with its thousands of islands and cays; property values are holding up in the BVI, an archipelago of only around 50-60 isles and islets.
In the 1970s, when the investment market had yet to take off, there were few brokers and precious little media interest – the only way to get your hands on an island was to do the legwork and get involved. Back then, with luxury tourism and elite construction in their infancy, and before palm-fringed, architect-designed seclusion was adopted as the ultimate status symbol by Hollywood stars such as Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts, the adventurously minded might pick up for £150,000 what commands more like £30 million today. But interest is stronger than ever, and the idea of coming home to the ultimate idyll incredibly attractive.

How to buy
So, let’s say you’ve visited St Barts a few times, you like the weather, you don’t miss the city, and you’ve got the funds. Where do you start? ‘You must know what you’re looking for,’ says Farhad Vladi, founder of Vladi Private Islands (vladi-private-islands.de) and a veteran of more than 2,000 island sales. ‘Quality islands are only five per cent of the market,’ he says. ‘Everything else is what I call an “adventurer island”, which means no electricity, no house – not even a hut – and no access.’ He gives would-be buyers a checklist, which includes freehold title, access, proximity to medical services, infrastructure and familiarity with local politics and climate.
Seclusion isn’t for everyone, and buyers are advised to visit with their families and, once they’ve found their island, to charter a yacht and stay in the locale for a few days. ‘If you like it, buy it and use it,’ says Vladi. ‘And although you’ll have seclusion, for sure, you’re still buying into a social environment, with neighbours and an existing culture.’ He tips BVI and the Grenadines as offering some of the most beautiful islands, and the Central American nation Belize as a good alternative, owing to its political stability and its barrier reef, the world’s second largest coral reef.
Legally speaking, buying an island in the Caribbean shouldn’t differ substantially from the sort of property transactions that take place daily in mainland Europe or the US. What can be surprising is the degree of government interest. If you’re looking at an undeveloped island in the British Virgin Islands, for instance, you’ll pay a premium as a private individual, whereas an investor intending to construct a resort, create employment and reap benefits for the locale will see less official resistance and friendlier prices. ‘There’s a huge difference between the family looking for their dream home and the dispassionate property investor,’ says Edward Childs of Smiths Gore land agents (smithsgore.com), which has manned outposts in the Caribbean since the 1960s. ‘In BVI, we take every committed buyer to meet the premier – the government will want to know what you’re planning to do with the island.’ Developing an island is, what’s more, logistically fraught – another reason to settle for an existing paradise.

What’s for sale?
Smiths Gore is currently marketing Buck Island, a 43-acre island in the protected lee of Tortola, the BVI’s main hub (price on application). You get a gracious seven-bedroom villa with pool, clubhouse and sports hut, docking and marine facilities, and a 1⅓-acre land base back on Tortola.
Vladi Private Islands has Bonefish Cay on its books, a hurricane-proofed, all-luxe-cons, 13-acre island in the Bahamas, developed 2000- 2006, at £9 million. The main lodge has a 28ft maple bar and soaring cypress-wood ceilings. Eight suites accommodate up to 14-16 residents, and the marine, communications and entertainment facilities are top-drawer…