Wealthy couple build stunning paradise on tropical island... but most people will struggle to stay there

Daily Mail​

12-05-2025

A California couple who vowed never to vacation in the same place twice have revealed how they ended up buying an entire island on holiday and transforming it into the 'world's first vegan island' worth $15 million.
Barry Walker and his artist wife Shauna, who run cannabis company Dub Bros, were travelers who prided themselves on experiencing new cultures each year.
'We had a rule that we would never go back to a place for a second time, and we would always immerse ourselves in the culture, whether it was Istanbul, Antibes in France, or the islands of Greece,' Barry told the Financial Times.
But their first trip to Fiji changed everything.
They discovered the Yasawa Islands - which was famous for being the backdrop in the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon.
'We saw the island and even though there was nothing there, we just knew there was something really magical about the place,' Shauna told Mansion Global.
Soon enough they noticed the island was for sale and decided to buy the entire uninhabited 75-acre piece of land for about $2 million and transform it into a meat-free haven.
They took over a 99-year lease from a New Zealand billionaire.
But their their island dream quickly turned into a five-year construction project and they ended up blowing their budget repeatedly.
'We were sitting on a beach and saw this little island in the distance. We then got picked up by a local boat and taken there. We went around the island, and the locals said it had been deserted for a while,' Barry told Mansion Global.
'Our budget was always going to be wrong because we didn't realize we were going to build a city,' Barry said. 'The first thing you learn when you build on a deserted island is you're not building a house-you're building a city.'
Before they could even think about constructing their dream home, they had to create the basic infrastructure to make the place livable.
This included power generation, water collection, sewage treatment, and desalination plants.
'We weren't just building a bathroom, we were building all the plumbing, all the sanitation, and you can't just pump it out into the water,' Barry explained.
The island runs almost entirely on solar power and backup generators are rarely needed in the sunny Fijian climate.
'You can run the entire island with every hairdryer, microwave and air conditioner on pretty much all day without sun,' Barry said.
The Walkers built a 5,500-square-foot main residence with six-meter ceilings and cyclone-rated glass windows.
A massive hardwood deck wraps around a pool lined with French travertine tiles imported from Paris.
'When you start importing French Travertine tiles from Paris, and you have to send them to L.A., to then send them to Melbourne, to be sent to Lautoka to be put on a barge and get them to your beach, then rent a tractor to lift them in place-that's when you realize what you've got yourself in for,' Barry said.
Each of the four bedrooms features an outdoor en suite with Moroccan-tiled showers.
LA artists were also commissioned to create one-of-a-kind concrete seats with crushed abalone shell mixed in.
The home soon reflected their travels around the world.
They incorporated furniture imported in several shipping containers from Morocco, France, Indonesia, Hungary and the United States.
'I love the house we built, but some of my fondest memories of Vawa are the times we spent there as a family, when the kids were little, and we were living in tents,' Shauna said.
'We lived off coconuts and papayas and our children played with the local kids. It was just magical.'
The island has gorgeous natural features.
Barry described 'Olympic-sized' swimming holes created by the island's volcanic history that transform at low tide.
'They become these very clear, calm swimming pools with pink, blue and yellow coral, and just tons of schools of fish, eels, and lobsters. It's like you're swimming in an aquarium,' he said.
The back side of the island was once a volcano and now features a deep drop-off that serves as a mating ground for manta rays.
'You can see them jumping out of the water,' Barry said.
Before purchasing the island, the Walkers made sure to meet with local chiefs to ensure they could carry out their plans and that they aligned with the community.
'They want opportunities for the village, opportunities to capture some revenue, they want a future for their kids, and they want jobs for them,' Barry said.
Sadly, the Walkers' South Pacific dream is coming to an end due to their divorce.
'My wife and I are getting divorced, and it's absolutely heartbreaking. I think we will sell the island, I think that kind of has to happen,' Barry said.
The island is now listed for $15 million through Forbes' Ken Jacobs and Tracey Atkins, co-listed with Rick Kermode at Bayleys New Zealand and Farhad Vladi at Vladi Private Islands.
Before its owner, Vawa was rented as a private holiday escape for approximately $25,000 per night.
According to Forbes Luxury Stays analysis, the island could earn around $100,000 per week as a rental property.
'The very ability to go completely off-grid and have a whole contemporary island to themselves is luxury enough,' Atkins told Mansion Global.
'There are a lot of private islands that rent bures and villas but not a lot where the entire island is one single offering.'
Both Barry and Shauna still cherish their island memories, from camping on the beach and swimming with turtles to stargazing with local workers.
'Time slows way down when I am there with my family, and it's delicious. It has always been an incredible opportunity to connect, to be present together, and to marvel at this beautiful life.'