Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)

For the island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, see Necker Island.

Necker Island is a small island in the British Virgin Islands just north of Virgin Gorda, located at 18°30′37.42″N 64°21′36.38″W. It is owned by Sir Richard Branson, famous for his Virgin brand.

History

The island was named after the 17th century Dutch squadron commander, Johannes de Neckere, although it remained uninhabited until the late 20th century.

Don McCullin and Andrew Alexander ran a survival test on the island in 1968. They were on the island for 14 days and chopped down most of the palm trees on the island for use as shelter.

Ownership by Richard Branson

Sir Richard first became aware that some of the islands in the British Virgin Islands were up for sale in 1979. In 1978 (then) Richard Branson went to the British Virgin Islands for a holiday in order to investigate the prospective real estate. On first observing the islands, Branson envisioned using them to put up rock stars for his record label. Upon arrival, they were given a luxury villa and travelled around islands for sale by helicopter. The final island he saw was Necker Island, and after climbing the hill and being stunned by the view and wildlife, fell in love with the island. After making a lowball bid of £200,000 for the £3 million island, however, he was turned down and evicted from the island. A while later, the owner, Lord Cobham, in need of short-term capital, eventually settled for £180,000, under certain conditions. The Government imposed a relatively common restriction on alien landholders; that the new owner had to develop a resort within five years or the island would revert to the state. Branson committed, determined to build a resort on his tropical dream island, notwithstanding his relatively modest capital at that time in his career.

When Branson bought the 74 acre island, it was uninhabited. It took 3 years and approximately US$10 million to turn it into a private island retreat. Using local stone, Brazilian hardwoods, antiques, art pieces and fabrics and bamboo furniture from Bali the Architects and designers created a 10 bedroom Balinese-style villa crowning a hill above the beach. Each of the 10 bedrooms has open walls giving a 360-degree view and cooling winds from any direction in the house. The island has accommodation for 28 people and rents out at a reported US$46,000 a day. All that includes two "private" beaches, private pools, tennis courts, breathtaking views, a personal chef and a wide array of water sports equipment.

Numerous famous figures have stayed at the resort, including the late Princess Diana, Janet Jackson, Harrison Ford, Mariah Carey, Eddie Murphy and Oprah Winfrey.

The island is available for weddings, relaxation breaks, sports vacations and even complete rentals for any purpose. For example, Larry Page, Google's billionaire co-founder, is set to marry his girlfriend, Lucy Southworth, on the island in early December 2007.

Privacy

Although the island is entirely privately owned, under British Virgin Islands law, all beaches up to the high water mark are technically crown land, and are open to the members of the public. In practice, the security personnel which accompany guests to Necker Island are known for making it difficult for ordinary members of the public to enjoy the beaches, particularly when high profile guests are in residence. On one of the occasions when the late Princess Diana stayed at the resort, security personnel kept a 150 metre perimeter around the island, beyond which the public were excluded.

When purchasing the island, environmentalists expressed concerns that Necker Island was one of the relatively few places in the world that a rare species of gecko lives and breeds. When Branson was granted an alien land-holder's licence to enable him to purchase the island, it was made conditional upon Branson's agreement that any legitimate scientific expedition to study the geckos should have full and unfettered access to the island.

External links

• Necker Island official site
• The Paradise Islands photographic guide to Necker Island
• Article about Necker Island
• Reviews from people who have visited Necker Island