In travel one-upmanship, nothing sounds as exclusive as hiring your own holiday island. It puts you in the same league as Sir Paul McCartney, who booked the Seychelles Cousine Island for his honeymoon with Heather Mills, as well as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, who hired the nearby Fregate island. And then there are all those rich people who don't get much change from £10,000 a day to stay on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island.
Yet you don't need to be a millionaire to play at being a castaway. There are islands all over the world where you can stay from just over £10 a day per person at the bottom end of the price range and for pretty much the same price you would pay for a good holiday at the top end. Here we've found 15 of the best.
Unless otherwise stated, prices are per person per week self-catering based on full occupancy of the island and do not include travel
Under £500
Someri, Finland
The summer sun barely sets over this tiny island in Paijanne, Finland's second-largest lake, some four hours from Helsinki, which makes summer nights the perfect time to fire up the sauna and jump naked into the crystal clear lake water. There is no electricity or running water, but who needs them when fresh water is all around and the nights are so light all you need is a candle? Sleep in the main wood cabin with double bed and small dining area as well as a wood-burning range for cooking plus a gas-run fridge. A second building works as the sauna, and a dressing room doubles up as another bed. There's a store of wood to fuel the sauna - when you run out, just walk round and pick up twigs.
Sleeps: Four
The damage: £75 May to October including speedboat hire
Contact: www.holiday-rentals.com/index.cfm/property/6902.cfm
Vahine Island, Tahiti
This small, secluded resort is just off the coast of Taha'a and across the lagoon with its crystal-clear water and coral gardens flanked by white sand. It doesn't get much more idyllic than this, particularly as there's an army of 10 staff to cater to your every whim. There are three thatched Polynesian-style bungalows on stilts in the water and six seafront bungalows, set among coconut trees, multicoloured hibiscus and bougainvillaea. Head off by boat to discover the many nearby islands including Raitea, one of Tahiti's premier diving and archeological spots, and the largely undiscovered Taha'a.
Sleeps: 18
The damage: £472 (half-board £231pp extra)
Contact: Transpacific Holidays (01293 567722) or Tahiti Tourisme (020 7222 7282)
Sleepy Cove, Canada
The Canadian wilderness is all around when you stay in the rustic log home in the forest and glade of Sleepy Cove in the Shubenacadie Grand Lake on Canada's east coast. For the full rustic experience, throw out a line and catch your own fish, then sit back on the cabin deck to watch the sunset. There is electricity and hot water in the cabin, which has one bedroom and a sofa bed, and you even get offered a mobile phone in case you want to contact the management office in Halifax. From the Nova Scotia island you can swim, windsurf, sail and canoe, or hop over to the mainland to play golf or tennis.
Sleeps: Four
The damage: £126
Contact: Vladi private islands (00 49 40 338989)
Forsyth Island, New Zealand
Experience the true outdoors on this lush green island in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds, a 20-minute helicopter ride from Wellington. This is a great one for the active - the 2,100 acre island has 35 kilometres of pathways for hiking and mountain biking. Guests can use the kayaks and watch for whales and dolphins. The modern lodge with timbered apex roof has three ensuite bathrooms and is rented on a self-catering basis, though food and drink can be delivered.
Sleeps: Six
The damage: £404. Helicopter transfers from Wellington cost about £190 for four or five people
Contact: Vladi private islands (00 49 40 338989) or www.forsyth.co.nz
Emerald Key, United States
You can see why it's called Emerald from the lush foliage all over this Florida island. In the middle of it all is a spacious three-storey timber home with airy porches, lofty ceilings and three bedrooms. It comes with games and books plus a television and VCR, although there's also sailing, snorkelling, diving, kayaking and fishing. The island is 25 miles from Key West or Marathon, which can be visited by boat for groceries, shopping or restaurants. Both have an international airport.
Sleeps: Six
The damage: from £483
Contact: Goin2travel (00 1 210 535 0952)
Wahwashkesh island, Canada
This one is perfect for fishermen; the five-acre island is set in Ontario's Lake Wahwashkesh, which is brimful of bass, northern pike and lake trout. There's a traditional Ontarian lodge, a guest cottage and a 'bunkie' (a smaller cottage which kids will love) nestling among 150-year-old pine trees. Add to that a secluded sandy beach, deep water off the dock for diving, and views over a large quiet bay, where the only sound at sunset is the haunting call of the loon, a bird native to North America. Stay here and you get the use of a canoe and a small motor boat.
Sleeps: 12
The damage: £ 150 from 22 June to mid October
Contact: Clearwater Holidays (08712 221074)
Horse Island, Ireland
There's plenty of fresh sea air on this island, just off the southwest coast of Ireland. The waters off the sandy bays are warmed by the Gulf stream and there are bizarre cliff formations and mussels aplenty. Inland meadows contain remains of Celtic settlements. Stay in three natural stone homes complete with wood and peat fire as well as all modern amenities including a sauna and Jacuzzi with an adjacent winecooler. You can also spend a night sleeping in a replica of the ship in which Columbus discovered America. This is perched on a clifftop with spectacular views, including the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse. Get there via Cork and then overland to Skul, the local town where food can be ordered daily.
Sleeps: 12
The damage: £290
Contact: Goin2travel (00 1 210 535 0952)
Under £1,000
Upper Monitor Cay, Honduras
You can walk round this island in about an hour but there's still plenty to do, with snorkelling, fishing and boat excursions to the dozen or so other Hog Islands that lie off the coast of this Central American country. Luckily, you don't have to do any of the mundane things in life as the island comes with a cook, maid, boat captain and manager. Stay either in the plantation-style timber house with verandas and hammocks or in the two wooden guest cabanas. You might be in paradise, but you can still stay in contact with the rest of the world via satellite TV and internet.
Sleeps: Eight to 12
The damage: £ 899 outside the Christmas period including food and boat transfers.
Contact: Reef and Rainforest (01803 866 965)
Eilean Shona, Scotland
Like the idea of Necker but can't afford to stay there? It's not as sunny, but Branson's little sister, Vanessa, lets out her own island, Eilean Shona, on the west coast of Scotland. Just two-and-a-half miles long and one-and-a-half miles wide at the entrance to Loch Moidart, it is full of stunning and rugged scenery, rolling hills, leafy glades and great views out to the Hebridean islands Ardnamurchan and Arisaig. There's an array of wildlife, and guests can do everything from seal watching to foraging for scallops. Stay in the nineteenth-century country house where J.M. Barrie wrote a screenplay for Peter Pan. The house has eight bedrooms with billiards room and playroom.
Sleeps: 18
The damage: £840 , including meals
Contact: 01967 431249; www.eileanshona.com
Wilson Island, Australia
P&O Resorts' designer-inspired tented retreat off Queensland is barefoot luxury for the ecologically aware and a great place to hang your hammock. Solar power and rainwater collection systems are used and guests can explore pristine reef as well as turtle and rare bird breeding grounds. The six permanent tents each have raised timber floors, king-sized beds, private deck with reef views and separate bathroom area.
Sleeps: 12
The damage: £ 698 for five nights, two on Heron island and three on Wilson island, including transfers, meals and activities
Contact: Turquoise Holidays (0870 443 4177)
Baron Island, Spain
If you've always been a fan of Spain but find the beaches too full of British holidaymakers, get your own beach on Baron Island, less than half an hour off the Murcian coast. The 220 acres of beach-rimmed hillside is a nature reserve offering complete peace and quiet. If you fancy joining the masses on the mainland there are rowing and sailing boats to take you there. Come back to the main house with its five-floor watchtower designed in the 1950s by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and four-bedroom cottage, which together sleep up to 10 people. Although the island comes with its own staff of four, meals aren't included.
Sleeps: Six to 10
The damage: £ 840 year round including transfer from Murcia airport.
Contact: Individual Travellers Company (08700 773773)
Over £1,000
Taprobane, Sri Lanka
Go back to the colonial era on Taprobane, off the coast of Sri Lanka, which was built in the 1920s by the eccentric English Count de Mauny. The Palladio-style house is on the highest point of the two-acre island covered with plants and palm trees, with nothing between it and the South Pole. Built around a central hexagonal hall and complete with large verandas and terraces, the house has four bedrooms and bathrooms and comes with a staff of six. The island, which is 40 minutes from the historic Dutch town of Galle, has been owned and visited by artists and celebrities including Paul Bowles, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Peggy Guggenheim.
Sleeps: Eight
The damage: £ 1,175 in high season (December to May) with flights and transfers. Chefs prepare food on request - prices vary
Contact: Scott Dunn World (020 8682 5010)
Wadigi Island, Fiji
Three acres of private paradise with two white-sand beaches surrounded by coral reef are available on Wadigi Island, tucked among Fiji's Mamanuca islands. Staff outnumber the guests here; sleeping just six, the villa has a staff of seven, including two gourmet chefs and a personal boatman. Watersports include snorkelling, kayaking, windsurfing and waterskiing. There are also wonderful views from the villa; the Sunset Suite has a large private deck over the water and a sunken bath with a sea view.
Sleeps: Six
The damage: £ 3,107 including flights, transfers and full-board accommodation
Contact: Bridge the World (0870 444 1716)
Ilha do Ourico, Brazil
Brazilian beach life is at its best on this island in the Bay of Angra dos Reis near Rio de Janeiro. If you get fed up with the two private white-sand beaches on the island you can take the 23-foot speedboat and join the Brazilian 'in-crowd' by cruising around the other islands in the bay and popping in on a cocktail bar or two before returning for the evening. But you won't want to be away for long from this glass-walled, thatched property which even has a glass sitting-room floor so you can see the water below. Look out at night over the coral reef, which is floodlit. The island comes with a team of five staff - to help them carry out your every desire, there's even a translator.
Sleeps: 10
The damage: £ 1,800 full board with helicopter transfers from Rio
Contact: Cazenove & Loyd (020 7384 2332)
Palagruza, Croatia
If you want true isolation, this most remote Croatian island with lighthouse fits the bill. Some 68 miles south of Split, the 1,400m long and 300m wide island is covered in Mediterranean vegetation. It has one of the best beaches in the Adriatic as well as some of the richest fishing. The lighthouse is built 90 metres above sea level on a hill, so you need to be fit to get up to it, carting your groceries for the entire length of your stay. Built in 1875, the large stone building has two four-bed apartments. But don't expect to have it completely to yourself - the lighthouse has a keeper.
Sleeps: 16
The damage: £ 2,000 in June with flights and boat transfers
Contact: Bond Tours (01372 745300)
