The night I camped on the quiet leeward shore of West Caicos, the island had a population of five: two writers, an architect, a construction foreman, and an “organizer of island pursuits” who kept us up late drinking rum, playing dominoes and indulging in a midnight snorkel under a velvet sky splattered with stars.  In the morning, sunbeams baked the silver thatch palms and sea oats that lined the toasted-sugar sand. We waded in motionless water the color of antifreeze, and declared ourselves willing castaways on a Caribbean isle that’s been deserted for 100 years.

it won’t be deserted for long. Our hosts were part of a group of developers whose vision for West Caicos is a sustainable tropical paradise that represents a new, greener era of island living. They invited us to experience a place in transition, an usual project that could take a beautiful, natural destination and actually make it better (for those who can afford it, anyway).

The westernmost link in the Turks and Caicos chain will soon house the 125-room Ritz-Carlton Molasses Reef hotel and a handful of 18th-century Caribbean style villas, all developed with preservation in mind—as they see it, it’s a minor sacrifice of 296 acres that will ensure the protection of a few thousand more.

The new, eco-friendly “settlement,” which will cover less than a tenth of the 11-square-mile island, is an attempt to use careful sustainability planning to thwart the overdevelopment that plagues nearby isles. Guests will get around on bicycles or golf carts; wooden boardwalks will protect the fragile silver thatch palm groves; and an environmental stewardship program will preserve archaeological relics, create and maintain public parks and beaches, reintroduce the once-endemic rock iguana, and establish an education center and interpretive trails.

Buying into this dream is not for the weak of wallet—overnight stays will start at $695. As for the villas, well, if you have to ask …