There are thousands of private island resorts around the world.
Most of the islands are very small, easy to walk around in an hour or so. Only the very best provide ample space and privacy between the accommodations.
These private islands resorts do create superb beach holidays, with excellent villas, facilities, dining and beaches. Like JOALI Maldives and Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi.
But imagine a private island resort that you can’t walk around? An island where vast areas of wild, untouched nature are yours to explore? An island where you can head out from your villa and not see another person for the rest of the day?
These private islands are different from the rest because they are so much bigger in size, literally A holiday isn’t just about what the resort can offer, also what the island itself has on offer.
Holidays on some of the World’s Biggest Private Islands
Are these the biggest private islands in the world? Not exactly, but they are among the largest private islands you can actually visit and enjoy.
And not all are just one island, our options include private resorts spread across archipelagos in a single atoll.
A bigger island typically means more exclusivity, more privacy, far more places to go explore, and the all-important feeling of being out in nature, rather than only being in a resort.
Everything on the island is further away, so these islands cannot maintain the speediest service. Relaxing on a beach you can WhatsApp your butler for a drink, just remember the bar is a 10-minute buggy drive away. Also remember you’re not at a beach club with a hundred of people, rather a beach with nobody else on the sand.
You get maximal space, exclusivity, privacy and places to explore.
Not only on land but in the water too. When you visit large private islands like North and Miavana, you enjoy near-exclusive access to snorkelling and dive sites.
For some comparison during this article, Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi is one of the largest private island resorts in the Maldives. We recommend it to many clients and it always enjoys stellar feedback.
It’s actually two islands, with a total size of around 0.3 square kilometres, for 119 villas.
North Island, Seychelles
Size = 2.01 square kilometres
Number of villas = 11
Famously the island where A-listers go for honeymoons, North is an island of classic Seychellois landscapes. Big granite boulders, wild and secluded beaches, undulating terrain and jungle inhabited by giant tortoises.
Some may find the villas a little old, others will love their natural feel and the uninterrupted Indian Ocean views from everywhere.
It’s not a resort with typical resort facilities like multiple restaurants, rather an island where you can order what you want whenever you want, and you can see sea turtles nesting most of the year.
This article has a complete North Island trip report.
Miavana, Madagascar
Size = 10 square kilometres
Number of villas = 14
Real Madagascan nature, like endemic lemurs and hundreds of thousands of indigenous trees. On an island sanctuary that’s a helicopter ride away from the mainland.
Stroll through the forests, walk the empty beaches, search for endangered crowned lemurs and find the nests several sea turtle species.
A remote beach resort experience is complemented by opportunities to explore the mainland by helicopter. And for every month of the year there’s a different natural highlight.
Petr Udavky’s trip report details the Miavana island experience in full.
Lanai, Hawaii
Size = 364 square kilometres
Total number of accommodations = 307
Lanai may just be the last pristine island of Hawaii. It’s 98% owned by Larry Ellison, who founded software company Oracle. A few indigenous people still live on the island, alongside two resorts operated by Four Seasons (there are also two tiny properties in the small town which service local visitors).
Four Seasons Resort Lanai is the oceanfront resort (213 total accommodations), complete with a cliffside Nobu restaurant and its own botanical gardens.
Sensei Lanai is an adults-only wellness property (96 total accommodations), located on pine-covered mountains, with a Japanese-inspired spa and treatments that has won many awards.
The Brando, French Polynesia
Atoll size = 6 square kilometres
Number of villas = 36
Only accessible by air charter, The Brando is one of our favourite sustainable resorts to discover. It’s powered by 4000 solar powers, uses deep ocean water cooling instead of air conditioning, has a circular water system and zero food waste.
The Brando is actually an entire atoll of 12 islands in French Polynesia, where a protective reef creates lagoon-like water conditions between the islands. Naturally, it’s amazing for water sports.
The remote location, resort layout and strict no-paparazzi rule mean it’s long been a place for A-listers to holiday without you knowing about it.
Bawah Reserve, Indonesia
Number of islands = 6
Total area of all islands = 1.01 square kilometres
Number of villas = 42
Around 250 kilometres off the coast of Singapore, in Indonesian waters, Bawah Reserve is a private resort spreading across six islands, three lagoons, 13 beaches and a large untouched forest.
Elang island can be privatised for 14 – 22 guests. Muerba can be reserved for fully private island dining while Bahasa has four beaches only accessible by water.
All six islands are dominated by white beaches, towering rocks and thick, indigenous forests. It’s nature untouched, in a corner of the world where most of the nature has disappeared. And while 1.01 square kilometres could seem small to the other resorts in this article, you also have exclusive access to all the waters in between.
What’s Your Next Island Holiday
The downside to these large and remote islands is that they are hard to get to. If they were easy to reach from busy international airport they wouldn’t be as exclusive. Remoteness is the appeal.
Instead, these islands featured are real once-in-a-lifetime destinations. They don’t provide the same island resort experience you already know from your holidays in the Indian Ocean.
They offer something else, something that is becoming so rare in our world: space, privacy and nature.
How do you get there? Our travel designers will fill you in with the specifics and help you understand the logistics and options when holidays in these remote paradise areas.
