What It’s Really Like to Buy a Private Island
26th March 2026
It’s a dream many might share: turning a scrap of tropical land into a luxury paradise, a rarefied riff on Robinson Crusoe. And the appeal of such an idea—not to mention the practicalities of it—has only been enhanced in the Covid pandemic’s wake. “When you’re in the middle of Zoom calls, no one knows where you are, as long as you’re not doing it on the beach with palm trees in the background and staff bringing you spicy margaritas,” says Edward de Mallet Morgan, who runs super-prime sales at Estate Prestige Knight Frank and has carved out a particular niche in island-brokering. “Nothing about it feels like normal life,” he adds. “Its incredibly peaceful and good for the soul.” As soon as you’ve tamed the landscape enough to build somewhere to sleep, that is.
If, of course, that’s what you want to do.
First, of course, you need to watch the film The Punisher to be aware that living on a tropical island can go very wrong very quickly.