Star Island, seen from the bay
Star Island is the reason most people book a celebrity homes cruise, and it is also the one place in Miami you cannot simply drive over to see. Its houses turn their backs on the street and their lawns to the bay. Every boat we compare passes it, some slowly and some in a blur of spray.
An island pumped from the bay floor
Star Island is made land. The Army Corps of Engineers built it by dredging sand from the bottom of Biscayne Bay and finished the work in 1922, on land first owned by the developer Carl Fisher. The result covers about 0.134 square miles (0.35 km²) with seawall around the edge. About 100 people live there. Bloomberg once called it the most expensive neighborhood in the United States, and nothing you see from the deck argues otherwise.
Its neighbors along the causeway, Palm Island and Hibiscus Island, were dredged at the same time, and all three were laid out so that the houses face the water.
One bridge and a guardhouse
By road, Star Island is reached from the MacArthur Causeway over a single bridge, with a guardhouse at the island end. There is no public access on land, so for a visitor the water side is the only side. The tours stay out in the bay and run along the shore, which is as near as a stranger gets, and as near as anyone should try to get. Whose homes you actually see covers the owners and how far to trust the names.
What the water side shows
The houses on Star Island were built to look at the bay, and from a boat that is obvious. Lawns run down to the seawall and private docks reach out into the water, often with a boat or two tied up. Between house and seawall you see pools and terraces. Styles change from lot to lot, a Mediterranean villa with a tiled roof standing next to a white box of glass. Hedges and tall palms hide some houses almost entirely, which is a choice the owners made and part of what you are looking at.
Nobody steps ashore. You do not see inside a house, and you do not stop at a dock. What you get is the view the owners paid for, turned around.
Which cruises pass it
All six cruises we compare go past Star Island, but each gives it a different amount of time.
| Cruise | From | How Star Island fits in |
|---|---|---|
| Bayride Millionaires' Homes | ~$20 per person | One stretch of a 90-minute narrated loop past the neighboring islands |
| Thriller speedboat | ~$42 per person | Passed at speed before the run out along South Beach |
| Fiesta sunset cruise | ~$69 per person | Passed in evening light, with narration and an open bar |
| MYA private charter | ~$199 per boat | The group sets the route; ask the captain to slow down here |
| Sunny Miami city tour and cruise | ~$60 per person | Seen on the 90-minute cruise that closes the day, after the van crosses the MacArthur Causeway |
| 1 Life private boat | ~$125 per boat | Named on the 2-hour celebrity option, from Miami Beach |
For the slowest look, a private boat wins. 1 Life's 25-foot boat, from ~$125 per boat, lists Star Island by name on its 2-hour celebrity option and leaves from Indian Creek in Miami Beach, so you skip the trip downtown. MYA, from ~$199 per boat, lets the group choose the route. Both bill the captain by the hour at the dock, plus a flat charge for fuel.
At the other end, Thriller's speedboat, from ~$42 per person, gives the island a few seconds before it heads for the ocean, and Bayride's loop at ~$20 per person sits between the two, with live commentary but also repeated tip requests and a crowded rail on busy afternoons. Viator also lists Bruschi's private skyline and Star Island trip at ~$52 per person, plus a $70 captain fee, though it has no toilet on board and you cannot pick your captain.
Star Island from a small boat
1 Life's 2-hour celebrity option takes up to eight people past Star Island from a dock on Indian Creek, from ~$125 per boat before the hourly captain fee and the fuel charge. If it rains, you get a new date or a refund.
Choosing your side of the boat
On Bayride's loop, reviewers advise the right-hand side as you face forward for most of the houses. Board early and claim a spot at that rail on the open top deck before the boat fills, because on a busy afternoon latecomers end up looking over shoulders. The lower deck is cooler, with air conditioning, but the view is better from above. On Fiesta or a private boat the direction can vary with the day, so ask the crew as you board which side the island will be on. Photographing the mansions has the camera settings for a moving deck.
Palm and Hibiscus next door
Two more islands sit beside Star Island on the same causeway. Palm Island covers 82 acres (33 ha) and is joined by a bridge to Hibiscus Island, and both were finished in 1922. Al Capone owned a Palm Island house from 1928 until his death there in 1947, and guides point it out from the water. Wikipedia also lists Barbara Walters and Nick Nolte among Palm Island's residents. Most cruises that pass Star Island take in its two neighbors in the same few minutes, and the islands of Biscayne Bay places all of them on a mental map.
Driving past on the MacArthur Causeway
The MacArthur Causeway between downtown Miami and South Beach runs right past Star Island, and from a car you catch the entrance bridge and a few rooftops behind the palms. That is all. You cannot stop on the causeway to look, and the island road beyond the guardhouse is private. The drive is a preview at best, and the water side is the reason boat tours exist here.
If you are deciding when to go, day cruise or sunset cruise? weighs the light, and the best time of year to go covers the hot months and the storm season.