Necker Island: Richard Branson’s Private Island and What Staying There Actually Costs

Richard Branson bought Necker Island in 1978 for £180,000, a price he negotiated down from £3 million after pointing out that the island was undeveloped and that he was 28 years old and didn’t have £3 million. He was there with a girlfriend who he’d promised a beach holiday. He then spent roughly £10 million over several years developing the island, building the Great House, adding guest temples, and introducing conservation animals. The girlfriend is not mentioned in accounts of this decision. Whether the island as it currently exists, renting for around $80,000 a night, represents a good return on the original investment is left as an exercise.

Necker Island is a 74-acre private island in the British Virgin Islands, operated as a luxury resort that rents the entire island to one group at a time. The island is rented exclusively - the entire island, not individual rooms - to one group at a time. It accommodates around 30 guests and costs approximately USD 80,000-105,000 per night for exclusive hire. That is the baseline; additional staffing, transfers, and activities add to this.

For most of the world, Necker is aspirational content rather than a travel plan. For people booking, it belongs to the category of private island exclusives: all-inclusive, staff to guest ratio around 1:1, no decisions to make beyond where to sit.

The Island

Necker sits 15 miles north of Tortola, the main island of the BVI. The island has a reef on three sides and clear turquoise water between 1.5 and 10 metres deep depending on location. The Great House is the main building: a Balinese-influenced open-plan structure at the island’s highest point with views over the Caribbean on three sides. It was rebuilt after fire damage in 2011.

Accommodation consists of the Great House rooms (6 rooms), Bali Hi and several standalone Balinese temples (open-sided pavilion structures with large beds, outdoor showers, and sea views). The temples are the more dramatic option, though they are open to the elements.

The island has Lemur Lemu, giant tortoises, flamingos, and nesting birds - a private conservation project with exotic species brought from other countries. The iguanas are not imported; they are indigenous and numerous.

Activities on-island: tennis, sea kayaking, paddleboarding, snorkelling directly from the beach, windsurfing, kiteboarding (equipment and instruction provided), boat excursions to nearby BVI islands and snorkelling sites. The waters around Necker have clean reef and visibility of 15-20 metres on calm days.

“Celebration Weeks”

When Necker is not entirely booked by one group, Virgin Limited Edition (the Branson resort company) opens the island for “Celebration Weeks” where individual room bookings are accepted alongside other guests. These run at specific times and cost around USD 15,000-22,000 per person per week (all-inclusive). This is the way individuals rather than groups access the island. The calendar is published at neckerlimited.com.

During Celebration Weeks, the island has around 28-34 guests total from multiple bookings. The shared-island arrangement is less private than a full exclusive hire but gives access to the same facilities.

The British Virgin Islands Context

Necker is accessible from Tortola (the BVI capital) by boat or helicopter. Most guests arrive via Tortola from Beef Island Airport (EIS), which receives flights from San Juan, Puerto Rico (direct, around 1 hour) and from other Caribbean hubs. American Airlines, LIAT, and Cape Air operate these routes. From Tortola to Necker is a 15-minute private speedboat transfer (arranged by the island).

The wider BVI is worth knowing about for visitors to the region who are not chartering Necker. The BVI has around 60 islands and cays; the main ones visited by tourists are Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and Anegada.

Virgin Gorda: the Baths are a series of enormous granite boulders at the southern tip forming sea pools and passages between them. One of the more distinctive geological features in the Caribbean. A day-trip from Tortola; ferry runs around USD 30-40 return.

Jost Van Dyke: a small island famous for Foxy’s Tamarind Bar (open since 1968), the anchor point of the BVI’s informal sailing culture. The Soggy Dollar Bar on White Bay claims to have invented the Painkiller cocktail (rum, cream of coconut, pineapple, orange juice). Accessible by private boat or ferry from West End, Tortola.

Anegada: a flat coral island with the third-largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere around it. The lobster fishing here supplies most of the BVI’s restaurants. A day trip from Tortola by ferry or small plane; the snorkelling and diving on the reef is excellent.

If You’re Not Booking Necker

The BVI has substantial private yacht charter capacity: the Sir Francis Drake Channel between the islands is one of the world’s best sailing grounds. Bareboat charter companies include The Moorings (Road Town, Tortola), Sunsail, and Horizon Yacht Charters. A 40-foot monohull runs around USD 2,500-4,000 per week; a 50-foot catamaran around USD 5,500-8,000. The anchorages at Cane Garden Bay (Tortola), Leverick Bay (Virgin Gorda), and White Bay (Jost Van Dyke) are the main stops.

Rosewood Little Dix Bay (Virgin Gorda): a conventional resort on one of the better BVI beaches, not private-island but close to the Baths and with good diving access. Around USD 700-1,400 per night.

Long Bay Beach Resort (Tortola): a competent mid-range resort on a quieter stretch of Tortola’s north coast, around USD 250-400 per night.

The BVI’s main limitation for standard tourists is cost: food, accommodation, and activities are US dollar-priced and expensive by almost any regional comparison. A reasonable budget for a week in the BVI without Necker-level accommodation is USD 250-450 per day per person including a boat charter share.