The Decision

For our 10 year anniversary, my husband, Micheal, and I wanted to take a vacation that would make memories to last a lifetime. We are avid cruisers but also enjoy 'staying' vacations on outer islands as well. We have visited Cozumel, Roatan (Honduras), Belize City, Spanish Wells (Bahamas), Montego Bay, and Grand Cayman. We considered a Southern Carribbean cruise out of San Juan, but decided for our anniversary we wanted something more private, and began looking at island villas for rent. We enjoyed Roatan on our visit last year via the Carnival Triumph and had said we wanted to spend more time there, so that was our first island to research. Houses were fair in price, however airfare was a little high. We have visited the outer island of Spanish Wells in the Bahamas a couple of times, so we are familiar with the area and began looking at some of the other islands to see what might interest us. Since my husband and I enjoy fishing and island hopping, we were looking for a house that either came with a boat rental or would rent cheap enough that we could rent a boat separately.

In researching islands that were good for fishing as well as beaching, the main island I kept being directed to was, of course, the fishing capital of the world ... Bimini. Hours of research later we found a house that was perfect for us, came with a boat, was right on the beach, and rented for a price we were comfortable with. Since Bimini is one of the closer islands to Florida, airfare was also more manageable. We had made the decision to book the Bimini house when my husband made an off-hand comment, "Too bad we can't rent a whole island for ourselves!"

So... I googled "private islands for rent" with the total expectation that all would be elaborate, beautiful, and mostly... expensive.

Sure enough, I found many islands/houses that were way out of our reach. Surprisingly though, I found Little Deadman's Cay through very little extra research. The price intrigued me, and I thought (after looking at other islands) the price may have been a misprint. However, upon further inspection, I realized why the price was as low as it was. I assume that there are many people who would not be willing to spend a week in this house simply because of a few things we considered only minor inconveniences.

The house rents for $1975 (for 2 people, an additional $300 per person if more than 2) for the week and includes a 17ft flat bottom boat (no need for an off shore boat since the waters around the island are no deeper than 2-5 ft in most places). Upon arrival you pay $300 cash to the caretaker for transportation and housekeeping. The caretaker will pick you up at the airport, take you to the local grocery store, and then take you on his boat over to the island and go over procedures.

The house is situated on a 9.5 acre private island off the island of Long Island in the southern Bahamas. The three bedroom house sleeps 6 and is fully furnished with a private water well that is supplemented by two large rainwater collection tanks. The well water mixed with the collected rainwater serves as the water supply for the home. Needless to say, the water is for cleaning and not drinking. There is no electricity available to run to the island, so the house is solar powered with supplemental wind generator. Reviews, mostly positive, mention that the water and electricity situation can be tricky but generally become second nature as your trip goes on. Micheal and I are not your average 'city folks' so we decided that, even though this would not provide the pampering we receive on the cruise ships, or the hotel quality homes we have rented before, we were up for the challenge.

I emailed WaterWay Condos and requested booking information. Within 24 hours I had a response and we were booked within three days. The process was simple and communication was great throughout the months leading up to our trip. After a few weeks of talking about the trip, my parents asked if they could tag along. Even though this was our anniversary trip, Micheal and I talked it over and decided it might be fun to have them along. We emailed WaterWay Condos with the change in occupancy and were quickly acknowledged as being confirmed for four guests. Now, to wait it out for our private island vacation!