Thursday, August 26, 2010

Looking into renting MY OWN island

As soon as I read that CNN.com article about renting your own island as low as a hundred dollars a week, I made it a point to scrutinize one of the websites mentioned therein: www.privateislandsonline.com. There was something fishy about it. I mean, how could you lease something you can’t own? Legal thinking aside, the whole idea of renting (more so, owning) a private island seems to be an exclusive thing for multimillionaires. Afterall, you have to have the moolah in order to spend a fortune to get off to a tropical paradise -- may it be in the South Pacific or the Caribbean or wherever. But with this website, it appears that you don’t have to be filthy rich to rent your own island. You just have to make sacrifices. You have to scrimp on the options and (obviously) luxurious accommodations. You may have to settle for the Adam and Eve aka. Survivor vacation style.

As advertised, the nearest island for rent is Pandan Island. It is a 50-acre virgin island in Mindoro, Philippines. For a super low rate of $84/week (Php 4,200/week or Php600/night), vacationists get to stay in a 16-room resthouse made from native materials. The downside is that there is no electricity nor generator in the island. So, there’s no aircon, electric fan, cable television or even an outlet where you could charge your phone in. Still, the lights are solar-powered. You also get your own toilet and shower, a private terrace, … and mosquito nets.

But one of the islands I’d like to rent is in Maldives: Soneva Gili Island Resort. It is claimed to be Maldives’ first all-water villa. Each of its’ 44 stilted accommodations has roof-top and over-water sundecks, open air bathrooms (WOAH!), and a personal entertainment centre. There, you can choose to bask under the sun or snorkel and find Nemo or take diving or other water sport lessons or simply gaze off into the amazing blue horizon. Cool, right? It will be worth every penny of the $4,010/week you'll spend. :D

But as I mentioned earlier, are the islands promoted in www.privateislandsonline.com really rentable?

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