Honeymoon in Sweet Seclusion

Honeymoon Hideaways
Words by Matthew Link
Photo courtesy of Private Islands Online

Ever dreamt of a honeymoon with just you and your new spouse, seemingly millions of miles away from the nearest human being, like a newlywed Adam and Eve?

“The fantasy of having an island of your own, all yours to command, is a dream that most people share,” said the late Wallace Tutt, who bought the entire two-acre island of Caribe Cay near Harbor Island in the Bahamas. “In this case, it’s a fantasy gone horribly right.” The interior designer (whose portfolio includes Gianni Versace’s mansion in South Beach and two of Cher’s homes) died last June, but his dream lives on in the form of his sequestered isle he made available for rent to the common man and woman. Tutt loved the isolated Caribe Cay because it allowed him to “totally disconnect,” which is exactly what honeymooners are hankering for.

Caribe Cay’s price tag of $15,000 a week may at first sound high, but it’s quite the deal considering you get your own staff, satellite TV, three private boats, a lighthouse, outdoor showers and sandy beach – all to yourself. Tutt poured $1.2 million into Caribe Cay’s three air-conditioned cottages (two for guests and one for staff), added a freshwater heated pool and imported lavish furnishings from palm-shaped chandeliers to colonial-era antiques. Caribe Cay is only a short one-hour flight from south Florida, but you’d think you’d washed ashore onto a luxurious tropical fantasyland.

Less expensive private isles include the three-acre Jonathan Island in Rhode Island (left), with its 1,900 square-foot, two-bedroom modern home for summer rental. For $3,750 a week, you get the house, kayaks, canoes, clam rakes, fishing poles, and outdoor furnishings. And of course, the island all to yourselves in the center of a six-mile nature sanctuary called Point Judith Pond.

If you prefer mountaintop, Honeymoon Cabins rents a number of secluded retreats in Tenneesee’s Smoky Mountains for as little as $94 a night. Don’t worry, they aren’t Coal Miner’s Daughter: Theultra-modern wooden structures come with flat screen TVs, surround sound systems, high-speed internet, full kitchens and some with heart-shaped Jacuzzis.

And for the truly adventurous, there’s the Jules Undersea Lodge off of Florida’s Key Largo. Togetherness takes on a whole new meaning in this fully-furnished, two-bedroom underwater apartment with a fully-stocked kitchen. A honeymoon package here comes with mood music, fresh flowers, a seafood appetizer and a “mer-chef” who cooks you breakfast, for $1,295 a night. This one-of-a-kind exclusive accommodation requires you to scuba dive (no training required) into its hatch entrance, while the entire lodge stays bone-dry. It’s hard to find a more blissfully isolated honeymoon on Earth.