Parrot Cay - Turks & Caicos
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? Check. Cloudless blue skies? Check. Cocktails on tap? Check. 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.
Looking for somewhere to stay on the island? Read our full review of Parrot Cay.
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
Located a blissful luxury speedboat ride away from Male’ International Airport, 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...
Looking for somewhere to stay on the island? Read our full review of Coco Palm.
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 be 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.
Like our pick of the best private islands in the world but looking for some more attainable sandy shores? Check out our pick of the best Balearic beaches or the best British beaches.
