By Alexander Britell
No island is an island.
Even islands have needs, needs from afar: food, energy, connectivity — no island can be truly independent in today’s world.
Or can it?
There’s an island in the British Virgin Islands that has become the dream of what a Caribbean island can be — a place that is the ultimate sustainable, independent destination. It is the island of the future.
This is Eustatia Island, a 35-acre private island a stone’s throw from Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the heart of the North Sound that is unlike any other island on earth. And Caribbean Journal got an exclusive look at it.
For starters, it’s a natural marvel — green hills, perfect white sand beaches, swaying palms, a group of four beautiful villas and a capacity of about 16 guests (yes, you have to rent out the whole island).
But it’s what’s under the surface that truly amazes, starting with a 400 kWh Tesla battery system that is the first-ever application of one of these commercial Tesla systems on an island — one that stores all of the solar energy collected through Eustatia’s 400 solar panels. It’s the capacity equivalent of six Tesla cars.
And while some places boast about being green, Eustatia actually is — the only fossil fuels used regularly on the island are a few tanks of propane for grilling — even the golf carts are solar powered, thanks to a clever retrofit that turns their roofs into PV panels. The latter is the kind of thinking that is the driving force of Eustatia, a place that is constantly trying to get better and come up with new ways to be sustainable.
Food and landscape waste are composted into fertilizer, while plastics, aluminum, glass, paper and cardboard are collected for recycling and the island even has its own reverse-osmosis desalination plant, one that can generate up to 10,000 gallons of fresh water every day — and yes, it’s powered by solar energy, too. There’s even a farm.
A villa pool.
But it’s not just about being green.
Eustatia’s four villas are set on the hillsides, with sparkling turquoise views and hiking trails and all the modern amenities you’d expect, with a beach bar and restaurant and features like a helipad and lightning-fast Wi-Fi and one bathroom that’s been built inside of a cave.
But it’s not just about the accommodations, either.
The biggest story just might be on the water.
This is no ordinary surf shop.
Eustatia Island has an impossibly broad collection of watersports equipment — and I don’t mean kayaks and paddleboards. I mean the kind of stuff you can barely find in a store – like two-person windsurfs and even an assortment of hydrofoil kiteboards.
And that’s just the non-motorized equipment.
The motorized is even more unbelievable, with a veritable fleet of boats led by an Iguana Yacht, an amphibious, electric-motored boat that can actually drive on land.
The best part? If you stay here, it’s all included — the food, the drinks, every manner of seaborne activity.
And it’s all done with an ethos that is helping to build and set the model for the island of the future. Everyone who stays here is helping to buy in to the future.
It’s easy to say that this all sounds hyperbolic. But it’s not.
Because Eustatia Island isn’t an island. It’s perfection — and this is just the beginning.
See more in the video at the top of the page.
For more information, visit Eustatia Island.