Inside the Celebrity Private Islands Owned by DiCaprio, Depp & More

The list of celebrity private islands reads like the rolodex of every billionaire dinner-party fantasy — Leonardo DiCaprio’s eco-resort in Belize, Johnny Depp’s Bahamian retreat, Mel Gibson’s Fijian fortress, Shakira’s Caribbean hideaway. Owning a private island is the apex of celebrity real estate: a status symbol so absolute that it sits one rung above a megayacht and two above a Bel Air estate. With purchase prices ranging from $3 million for a remote Belizean cay to upwards of $200 million for a developed Caribbean resort, these are the most exclusive holdings in any A-list portfolio.

We tracked down the most credible ownership records for the world’s most-talked-about celebrity private islands, drawing on reporting from Dirt.com, Architectural Digest, and Forbes Real Estate. Here’s a tour of the celebrity-owned islands that actually exist — and what makes each one unique.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio — Blackadore Caye, Belize

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blackadore Caye is the most ambitious entry on this list of celebrity private islands. The Oscar winner purchased the 104-acre island off Belize’s coast in 2005 for approximately $1.75 million and has since partnered with developer Paul Scialla on a multi-year, $200-million eco-resort project. Plans call for 36 over-water bungalows, 36 jungle villas, native mangrove restoration, and an artificial reef system designed to repair decades of coral damage. The development has been delayed multiple times — original opening targets in 2018 and 2022 both slipped — but DiCaprio remains personally involved, citing the project as one of his proudest environmental investments. When complete, Blackadore Caye will be one of the most expensive eco-resorts ever built on a celebrity-owned island.

2. Johnny Depp — Little Hall’s Pond Cay, Bahamas

Johnny Depp purchased the 45-acre Little Hall’s Pond Cay in the Exumas chain of the Bahamas in 2004 for a reported $3.6 million — making it one of the most affordable purchases on this list of celebrity private islands. The island has six private beaches, each named after a person significant to Depp — including Brando Beach (after Marlon Brando), Heath Beach (after Heath Ledger), and Hunter Beach (after Hunter S. Thompson). Depp built six hand-thatched, off-grid villas on the island, all powered by solar panels and a wind-turbine system. The island has appeared in interviews and home tours as Depp’s personal sanctuary, and he has reportedly spent extended periods there during gaps in filming and in the years after his publicized legal disputes.

3. Shakira & Roger Waters — Bonds Cay, Bahamas

One of the more unusual co-ownership arrangements on this list of celebrity private islands belongs to Shakira and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who jointly own Bonds Cay in the Berry Islands chain of the Bahamas. The 550-acre island was purchased through a partnership in the late 2000s, with plans for a luxury resort and arts community that have since been scaled back. Bonds Cay has the distinction of being one of the largest celebrity-owned islands by acreage and remains under careful environmental management, with most of its native vegetation preserved.

4. Mel Gibson — Mago Island, Fiji

Mel Gibson’s Mago Island, purchased in 2005 for approximately $15 million from Tokyu Corporation of Japan, is one of the largest celebrity private islands in the South Pacific at roughly 5,400 acres. The Fijian retreat is famously secluded and reportedly accessed primarily by helicopter from Suva. Mago Island includes preserved tropical rainforest, multiple private beaches, and a small main residence built to Gibson’s specifications. The purchase was controversial at the time — Indigenous Fijian groups argued they had ancestral claims to the land — but Gibson’s ownership has continued without legal challenge in the two decades since.

5. Marlon Brando’s Estate — Tetiaroa, French Polynesia

Although Marlon Brando passed away in 2004, his Tetiaroa atoll in French Polynesia remains one of the most storied celebrity private islands in history. Brando purchased Tetiaroa — a 12-island atoll he discovered while filming Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960 — and developed it as a personal retreat. After his death, the Brando estate partnered with developer Pacific Beachcomber to build “The Brando” — an ultra-luxury resort that opened in 2014 with rates starting at $3,000-plus per night. The resort runs entirely on solar power and seawater air conditioning, fulfilling Brando’s vision of a sustainable retreat. While not strictly a celebrity-owned residence in 2026, it remains the most direct legacy of any celebrity-owned island in the world.

6. Tyler Perry — White Oak Island, Georgia

Filmmaker and studio mogul Tyler Perry’s celebrity private islands portfolio includes Douglas Island (later renamed by Perry as a private compound) and White Oak Island off the Georgia coast. While not purely tropical, Perry’s Georgia island compound is one of the most developed mainland-adjacent celebrity islands in the United States, including a private airstrip, multiple guest houses, and dock facilities. Perry has used the island as a personal retreat as well as a setting for occasional Madea-related projects, though most filming occurs at his 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.

7. Eddie Murphy — Rooster Cay, Bahamas

Eddie Murphy purchased Rooster Cay in the Exuma chain of the Bahamas in 2007 for $15 million — at the time, one of the most expensive private island purchases by an American entertainer. The 15-acre Rooster Cay has been kept largely undeveloped, with reports indicating Murphy uses it primarily as a retreat for family vacations rather than as a developed estate. The island sits within boating distance of Johnny Depp’s Little Hall’s Pond Cay, making the Exumas chain a quiet hub of celebrity private islands ownership.

8. Nicolas Cage — Leaf Cay, Bahamas

During his peak real-estate-collecting years in the mid-2000s, Nicolas Cage purchased Leaf Cay in the Exumas — a 40-acre island known for its native iguana population — for a reported $3 million. Like much of Cage’s real-estate portfolio from that era, Leaf Cay was eventually sold during the financial difficulties that led to the actor liquidating multiple properties. While Cage no longer owns the cay in 2026, his brief tenure remains one of the most cited entries in celebrity private islands history due to the iguanas and the colorful timeline of his ownership.

9. Faith Hill & Tim McGraw — Goat Cay, Bahamas

Country-music power couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw own Goat Cay in the Bahamas, one of the lesser-publicized celebrity private islands in the Caribbean. The couple purchased the island in the early 2000s for an undisclosed amount in the single-digit millions and has built a private compound with multiple guest cottages and a main villa. Hill and McGraw have referenced the island in occasional interviews as the family’s primary off-grid retreat — separate from their Brentwood, Tennessee estate.

10. Larry Ellison — Lanai, Hawaii

The largest entry on any list of celebrity private islands belongs to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who purchased 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai in 2012 for a reported $300 million. Lanai is a fully populated island — with approximately 3,000 residents — but Ellison’s ownership stake includes the two Four Seasons resorts, the airport, the water utility, and the bulk of agricultural land. Ellison has invested an estimated $450 million in additional infrastructure since the purchase, including hydroponic farming and a renewable energy grid. While Ellison technically owns most of Lanai rather than the island in fee simple, the deal remains the largest celebrity island purchase in history.

What Owning a Private Island Actually Costs

The acquisition price is only the beginning. Annual operating costs for celebrity private islands typically run between $500,000 and $5 million depending on staff, infrastructure, and resort-grade development. A 50-acre Bahamian island with a six-villa compound can require a $1.5-million annual budget for security, maintenance, fuel, water, and a year-round caretaker. Larger holdings — Mel Gibson’s Mago, Larry Ellison’s Lanai — operate at a different scale entirely, with private airstrips, on-island staff villages, and full-time maintenance crews approaching the size of small hotels.

Resale values for celebrity private islands have appreciated substantially since the mid-2000s. A 50-acre island that traded for $3 million in 2005 now lists in the $8-15 million range, with marketed prices climbing further during peak Caribbean buying seasons. The market remains highly illiquid — most celebrity sales happen privately through brokers like Vladi Private Islands and Knight Frank — but valuations have proven resilient through multiple market cycles.

For more on the parallel real-estate categories these owners typically build alongside their islands, our coverage of the most expensive celebrity yachts and celebrity private jets details the rest of the floating-and-flying portfolio. For the family compounds these owners maintain on the mainland, our deep dive on celebrity vacation homes that define luxury travel covers the parallel land-based category.

Why Celebrity Private Islands Matter in 2026

The story of Celebrity Private Islands has become one of the most-searched topics in celebrity coverage this year — and the headline numbers only tell part of it.

Frequently Asked Questions