Private Islands

Islas Secas, Panama. In the Gulf of Chiriquí, Islas Secas is a private Pacific archipelago of casitas in forest shade and Casa Cavada, the residence-scale house for families and celebrations. A private charter from Panama City lands on the island’s own airstrip. Days turn on reef and marine safari mornings, spa and hammock middays and open-air dinners as the Gulf goes gold, and quieter shoulder weeks lend themselves to a full buyout. Our Islas Secas guide covers seasons and the arrival.

LAUCALA Island, Fiji. LAUCALA Island spans 3,015 private acres with only twenty-four villas, each with its own pool, from Plateau villas high on Nawi Hill to Plantation and Seagrass villas on the sand, Udu on its rocky peninsula and Wai above the lagoon. A 240-acre farm supplies the kitchens, golfers have an eighteen-hole David McLay Kidd course without set tee times, and guests can fly straight to the island’s airstrip or connect from Nadi. More in our LAUCALA Island guide and our Fiji guide.

Cayo Espanto, Belize. Off Ambergris Caye, Cayo Espanto is a cay of a handful of villas, each with its own dock, plunge pool and houseman, and no resort plaza to share. Casa Ventanas stands over the water with a glass floor; Casa Estrella gives a family two bedrooms across two storeys. Meals are prepared around the household, the Belize Barrier Reef is a private boat ride away, and the arrival is a short flight from Belize City to San Pedro, then the boat. See our Cayo Espanto guide and our Belize guide.

Magenta Private Island, Belize. Off Placencia in southern Belize, Magenta Private Island keeps eleven oceanfront rooms for no more than 22 guests: eight Grand Villas in duplex pairs above the water and three freestanding Sanctuary Suites. There are no day visitors, everything from the top-shelf bar to the boat transfers is included, and the reef begins steps from the shore. The arrival is a short flight from Belize City to Placencia, then about 20 minutes on the island’s own boat. See our Belize guide.

Amanpulo, the Philippines. Amanpulo is Aman’s private-island house on Pamalican: casitas and villas on a coral-fringed island reached by its own airstrip, usually by way of Manila. Couples tend toward the casitas and larger parties toward villa scale, and the week moves between reef mornings, Aman Spa and dinners kept quiet by how deliberate the access is. It pairs well with a city or temple stay elsewhere in Asia.

Choosing between them is mostly a matter of season and company. Cayo Espanto is at its clearest from December to April, Fiji’s drier trade-wind months run from May to October, and both Pamalican and the Gulf of Chiriquí are at their best in the dry months for beach and reef. For two, a single villa at Cayo Espanto or a casita at Amanpulo is the most intimate choice; for a family or a milestone, Casa Cavada or a three-bedroom villa at LAUCALA gives the room. Holiday weeks are held early on every island, because inventory is counted in villas rather than floors.

For villas built over the water itself, continue to Overwater & Lagoon, or to Island Sanctuaries for island resorts where the sea stays in the foreground.

Our Journal looks more widely at the world’s best private island resorts, including Bawah Reserve in Indonesia and Cheval Blanc Randheli in the Maldives. In Fiji’s Kadavu group, Kokomo Private Island takes a different shape, a resort of beachfront villas and hilltop Residences on its own island at the edge of the Great Astrolabe Reef; see Kadavu.

For a wedding, a vow renewal or a milestone with an island to yourselves, see our Weddings & Celebrations collection.