How to Buy a Private Island

Contents

Islomania
Investment
Exclusivity
Psychology
Prices
Region
Location
Water
Uses
Climate
Inhabitability
Accessibility
Anchorage
Development
Topography
Beaches
Infrastructure
Caretakers
Communications
Health
Transportation - By Air
Islomaniacs Quiz
Island Criteria
Island Books

Introduction

The internet has made the search for private islands very easy for buyers, and there is a plethora or websites now offering information. This is great for buyers, but it can also be confusing. Such websites (even mine) have their own agendas or preferences.

You will find supposed island experts copying my articles, and one site has even been stealing all my island images and selling them! There are also now not one, but two copies of this blog using fake identities. I suppose I must be doing something right if they have to copy me, but I wonder why they can't use their real names and their own imagination?

This is the real guide, written by me a genuine island expert, with thousands of links to my best island books, music, photos, and all the advice you will need to find, then buy and finally develop a private island. I am a real person, and you can call me and see exactly who I am, just see bottom of the page for every single way to contact me.

What is my bias?

I am quite open about it, I love tropical islands, and put more emphasis into searching for them and concentrate my efforts on researching and listing islands in the tropics. That is because I believe that the majority of people prefer tropical islands, and if you asked a person to describe an island in their imagination you would undoubtedly be given a picture of a coral atoll with sugar-white sandy beach, swaying palm trees and surrounded by a turquoise lagoon.

"When you think of an island, you tend to think of sand, palm trees, and water. Also, it is such a useful image in all kinds of advertising and it is easier to survive on an island where the climate is more benign, not a rock in howling seas off Newfoundland."

Joan Tapper, former Editor Island Magazine

That’s my bias, and I am open about it. However, there are other websites that tout the potential of temperate islands in Canada, New Zealand and etc, who make dubious claims about tropical islands such as the danger of coconuts falling on your head!

To see the hilarious article exposing the killer coconut myth Click Here

Yes, tropical islands have their negatives, they are prone to typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones whatever you may call them, there are mosquitoes, and occasionally sandflies and other aspects which don’t appeal to all. There are remedies to most of these problems, and if you don’t like those things buy a temperate island. There are negative aspects of any place in the world, Twisters regularly ravage the American Mid-West, Hurricanes cause massive damage in Florida and of course New Orleans, and forest fires are a danger in California, but that doesnt stop people living there does it? It's all a matter of perception as opposed to reality.

There are also negative aspects of temperate islands, which I won’t go into in depth except to say one word, WINTER! The funniest example I can give are two videos by my friend Marcello, make sure you watch the Canadian video right to the end for the hilarious twist.

To watch Marcello's private island in Canada Click Here

Compare that to One Foot Island in Aitutaki, Cook Islands ... Click Here

Island Experts

Another factor to consider when researching the subject of buying an island using the internet is that apart from bias, one must take into account experience. There are really only a handful of people in the world who can truly claim to be “island” experts. The title “island expert” can only rightfully be claimed by years in business, the amount of islands they have for sale, and actual hands-on island experience.

I personally have not only been selling islands for over 6 years, but have worked on, explored and lived on tropical islands my entire adult life. I was an inveterate traveler for nearly 15 years and lived for long periods of time in tropical islands. I sailed the entire length of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef at an early age, and worked on island resorts it’s length and breadth. I also met and lived with others who shared my passion for islands, and absorbed their accumulated knowledge.

I lived for several years in the Caribbean and Central America, spending a lot of time in Belize, The Bay islands of Honduras, Isla San Andres and Isla Providencia in Columbia and the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua just to name a few. I sailed on yachts for many years and worked throughout the Windward islands of the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and did extensive blue water crossings of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, visiting islands seen by only a handful of people such as the Chagos Archipelago, Oeno Atoll, The Ha’apai islands of Tonga, the Riau Archipelago and Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea just to name my favourites. Many of the photos from my adventures can be seen in my Webshots Gallery.

Finally I ended up in the Philippines where I lived a year on my own magnificent tropical island, and explored the 1,707 islands of Palawan, dubbed the “Last Frontier” of the Philippines by Jacques Cousteau.

I fulfilled a life-long dream by living for a year alone in a tiny nipa hut in the Philippines on the magnificent Pinagbuyatan island, pictured on the cover of the Lonely Planet Philippines.

You can read the story of this adventure in Get Lost Magazine, Australia. Full scans of that article can be seen at these links…

Page 1: Click Here
Page 2: Click Here
Page 3: Click Here

During my year-long island sojourn I discovered a lost 17th century Spanish fortress hidden in the jungle on the remote Linapacan island. To see the story of this fascinating adventure please Click Here

Images of the discovery of the lost fortress can be seen Click Here

It was here that I started my career selling islands, but I has already spent 3 years prior to that going on extended trips around the world looking for an island for my friend who was a wealthy and celebrated English author. He paid me to help him try and find his perfect island, and all that research in time accidentally coalesced into a career.

So when I say I am an island expert, it’s an indisputable fact, backed up by years of practical island living and travel, and all the expertise I absorbed from others I met with my passion in my travels.

It’s easy to gather images of islands around the world, use Wikipedia or Google to research reports and pass oneself off as an island expert, but such claims don’t stand up to investigation.

How can you claim to offer expertise and advise about a country that you have never even been to? If you claim to be an island expert with a world-wide scope then you must have actual practical knowledge of the countries the islands are in. For example if you ask me to compare islands in Belize, and those of Panama I can tell you easily because I lived in both countries and have physically visited most of the islands.

I have tried to write this report carefully and in an unbiased manner to give just a small portion of the experiences I have learned over the years about the process of investigating islands before buying them.

Beginning Your Search

Firstly, read all the chapters in this E-Book, and then once you are ready to ask me about private islands it is important to give me very clear and specific criteria of what type of island you want.

To read the chapter on 'Island Criteria" Click Here

Then once you have made a detailed set of criteria email me at the contact details at the base of this page.

Further Information

Apart from contacting me to start your search for an island I also suggest you do the following to learn all about private islands.

To join the Islomaniacs Group Click Here
To see my Island Store Click Here
To see my complete island listings Click Here
To see all my island images Click Here
To see my Island Videos Click Here
Subscribe to 'Islands" Magazine Click Here

The Author

"Cheyenne Morrison, a man who is arguably the world's leading broker of private islands."
Everett Potter's Travel Report, Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Coldwell Banker Morrison’s Private Islands with listings for 200+ islands, and more being uploaded each week, has the largest catalogue of private islands of any broker world-wide, with a total value of over $1.5 Billion USD.

The company is the result of a life-long obsession with islands (islomania) by its proprietor Mr. Cheyenne Morrison; a 43 year old Australian who is listed among "Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate" and has repeatedly been voted one of the top 3 private island brokers in the world by virtually every major publication around the world including Fortune, Forbes, International Herald Tribune and Kiplinger’s.

He was recently featured on BBC and CNN international TV news programmes.

To see images of his press appearances Click Here

To see about me, my island travels and adventures Click Here

I offer the only bespoke private island finding service in the world, to see more about my services Click Here

Contact Me

Mr. Cheyenne Morrison
Coldwell Banker Morrison's Private Islands
International Private Islands Specialist

Videos
My Complete Island Listings
My Profile
My Island Store
Islomaniacs Group

Phone: +61-7-4099-3939
Cell Phone: +61-439-757-966
Skype: Islandbroker
Email Me