http://www.boatinternational.com | May 2018Voyage
PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK
Buy me an island
Looking for a slice of privacy at the heart of a fishing Mecca?
Whale Cay should be on your shopping list, says Zöe DickensRainforest Spa
Sugar BeachSEA SPAFACT FILELOCATION
25°26’05.9”N 77°45’47.6”W
PRICE$20,000,000
AGENTDamianos Sotheby’s
International Realty,
sirbahamas.com
USP 13 white sandy beaches
totalling seven miles
CELEBRITY NEIGHBOURS
A group of investors, including Pink
Floyd frontman Roger Waters and
singer Shakira, owns Bonds Cay
ROBINSON CRUSOE FACTOR 5/10Spanning a huge 288 hectares, Whale Cay
is located in the renowned fishing grounds
of the Bahamas’ Berry Islands. Lying just
30 miles north of Nassau, the island was
bought in 1934 by speedboat daredevil and
oil heiress Marion Barbara “Joe” Carstairs
and used to entertain guests including the
Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Marlene
Dietrich. A number of buildings from
Carstairs’ ownership, including the Great
House, g uest cottage, music room, staf
quarters, lighthouse and sea plane hangar,
are included in the ofering but most have
fallen into disrepair.
Already equipped
with a 1,220 metre paved
airstrip, the island is
also accessible by boator seaplane, with the opportunity to dredge
a natural waterway for access by larger
vessels. Ofered in two phases, the island
was divided into multiple residential lots
of around half a hectare each in the mid-
1970s and the listing includes 75 lots on
the southern coast and 60 lots in the
northern section of the island. Eighty lots
were sold or retained by a former owner,
and some of these have already been
developed into single family homes, but
there is still plenty of scope for a future
owner to create a highly private retreat.Where is it?
Wedged between St Lucia’s UNESCO World
Heritage-listed Piton mountains, many
consider the location of Sugar Beach resort
to have restorative powers (it was one of the
most sacred locations for the island’s early
inhabitants, the Arawak Amerindians, nearly
2,000 years ago). If you need more than
geography to help you unwind, the spa’s eight
treehouse treatment gazebos and steam
room – warmed by volcanic spring water, with
the natural soundtrack of a flowing
waterfall – should do the trick.
Why the hype?
More than $100 million has been
invested in the super-chic resort
since the original site, built on the
La Jalousie plantation in the 1990s,
was taken over in 2008. The latest additions
are two ultra-modern beachfront residences- honeytraps for Hollywood A-listers looking
to hide behind more than just their sunglasses
while in the Caribbean.
What to have?
Charismatic British owner Roger Myers – who
founded the Café Rouge chain – swears by
the spa’s signature hot stone massage, which
uses locally sourced volcanic stones to create
penetrating heat to relieve stress. Or for more
of a pummelling opt for the Royal Bamboo
Massage: three different
sizes of bamboo sticks
are rolled in soothing
movements across your
body for deep tissue relief.
Best by boat
Contact the National Park
authorities to make use
of one of the mooring
balls that sit in the bay in
front of the hotel and then
tender in to its private jetty. Once ashore, one
of the property’s vividly coloured tuk-tuks will
whisk you up the hillside to the spa, which is
hidden in thick tropical vegetation.
viceroyhotelsandresorts.com
The Bahamian island
of Whale Cay boasts a
1,220m paved airstripThe best private
islands on
the market
boatint.com/
private-islands