Caribbean Private Island Resorts

Centered on Deadman's Bay, the Peter Island resort has all of the amenities you'd expect from a luxury destination property -- including a full-service spa and marina -- plus an impressively broad range of accommodations, including standard rooms, junior suites, villas, and homes with up to 6 bedrooms. The Tradewinds Restaurant is known for its Caribbean cuisine, while the resort's beach bar hosts a popular weekly West Indies night with live music and an expansive buffet. The island is located five miles south of Tortola, across the Sir Francis Drake Channel.

Located just offshore from Kingstown, the capital of St. Vincent, Young Island provides a lush private sanctuary to its guests but remains a three-minute boat ride from the mainland and its many attractions. The property is compact but lovely, with guest cottages located both along the waterfront and hillside overlooking the beachside restaurant and bar. Amenities include a lighted tennis court, a lobster and fish pool you can swim in, hiking trails, and a tiny offshore bar. Ask to stay in the cottage where Johnny Depp stayed during filming of Pirates of the Caribbean and enjoy a soak in your private outdoor pool while you watch the boats cruising to and from Kingstown.

Palm Island has a variety of accommodations and is rich with amenities, including superb dining and beaches. This is without a doubt one of the most beautiful resorts you will ever have the pleasure of visiting, with impossibly blue skies contrasting with brilliant white beaches, and leaning palm trees strung with inviting hammocks. There's plenty of room to roam on this 135-acre island, and strollers, hikers and bikers will quickly discover the island's tennis courts, croquet lawn, and pitch-and-putt golf course. Rooms have louvered windows and sliding doors to allow al fresco dining and dozing.

This 1,400-acre island is home to a variety of fully staffed private luxury villas as well as the Cotton House hotel. Mustique covers 1,400 acres and has 71 villas for rent, including 13 historic homes designed by Oliver Messel. A stay here is more like being part of a community -- complete with a church, stores, tennis courts and a stable -- than being a guest at a private resort, and there are nine beaches upon which to while your days away.

Most distant from St. Vincent in the Grenadines, Petit St. Vincent is a remote island paradise has a unique collection of stone-walled villas spread out for maximum privacy. Traverse the island by golf cart or simply stay put and hang your flag out for in-room dining or other services, including spa treatments or yoga. PSV has 22 cottages scattered over 113 acres, so meeting your neighbors is truly a matter of choice here -- probably why it is a popular hideaway for celebrities. Tennis, fishing charters, scuba, and hiking are options for more active days.

Is this the Caribbean, or Indonesia? The Balinese-style Beach House makes it hard to tell, but this private island resort is located just off the coast of Grenada and a mere 15 minutes from the airport. Reservations are for groups only: the Great House, which also features elements of French Colonial architecture, can accommodate up to 20 guests, plus another 12 who can bunk in style on the resort's Luxury sailing yacht. Jet skis, white-sand beaches, a pool with swim-up bar, on-call massages, and fine dining are among the available amenities.