It’s been called the “Billionaire Bunker” and one of the “wealthiest, private, most secure communities in Miami Beach and the world.” Indian Creek is a village of about 42 people on a tiny private island in Miami’s Biscayne Bay. Its “Billionaire Bunker” moniker stems from its wildly wealthy and high-profile residents, including billionaire investor Carl Icahn, supermodel Adriana Lima and Spanish singer Julio Iglesias. In the past couple of months the island has gained some new high-profile residents, including Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen. The seven-time Super Bowl winner and his supermodel wife reportedly paid US$17 million for a property on Indian Creek that they’re planning to tear down and replace with a new, eco-friendly mansion. The news of Brady and Bündchen’s purchase followed reports last year that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner had dropped US$32 million on a waterfront lot on the exclusive island, that Iglesias put up for sale. In May 2019, I got a tour of the island from Nelson Gonzalez, a luxury property agent and the senior vice-president of EWM Realty International. Here’s what it’s like on the exclusive, high-security island. What does the Year of the Ox have in store for Asia Pacific property? Indian Creek is a village of about 40 residents on a tiny private island in Miami’s Biscayne Bay The village’s 34 homes are built around the perimeter of the island, giving them all waterfront views. The centre is occupied by an 18-hole golf course and a country club. “Indian Creek is an exclusive 300-acre (121-hectare) island located on the beautiful waters of Biscayne Bay and recognised as one of the wealthiest, private, most secure communities in Miami Beach, and the world,” Michael Light, the founder of Miami Luxury Homes and senior director of luxury sales at Douglas Elliman, wrote on his website. Indian Creek’s police department monitors the only entrance to the island When I got my exclusive tour of Indian Creek Village, I arrived at the island in an Uber. We were stopped at the guardhouse before even getting on the island. My name was on a list of expected guests, so I didn’t have a problem getting in. The island is protected by a private 13-person police force, according to my tour guide Gonzalez. The force even patrols the perimeter of the island from the water. Indian Creek Village is only accessible by car A single bridge spans the waterway from Surfside. After we drove across the bridge, I was dropped off in the driveway of one of the island’s opulent mansions. Homes in Indian Creek are rarely up for sale. At the time of my visit, there was only one house on the market: an eight-bedroom, Mediterranean-style mansion for US$24 million. I was able to take a tour and photograph the home because it’s for sale, but I wasn’t allowed to take photos of any other houses on the island. The house sold for US$17 million in April 2020. Though it was the only one on the market when I visited, houses in the village have been known to sell without being officially listed. Move aside, boomers – it’s millennials buying up multimillion dollar homes An Indian Creek estate broke a record in 2019 In February 2019, an Indian Creek estate that wasn’t officially on the market sold for US$50 million, breaking the record for the most expensive single-family home sold in the Miami area. It was the second time the home broke that record after selling for US$47 million in 2012. A pristine 18-hole golf course spans the centre of the island. Julian Johnston now presents, sweeping southern wide bay water views over 🏌🏼♂️ Indian Creek Golf Course from this stunning luxurious modern waterfront home in 🏝 Bay Harbor Island’s. 🏡 9420 W Broadview Drive #BayHarborIslands , FL 7 Beds | 7 Baths 💸 Asking Price: $13,500,000 pic.twitter.com/NqnWayH4td — Julian Johnston (@MIAwaterfront) November 21, 2019 The Indian Creek Golf Course is one of the prime golf courses in Florida, according to the website Top 100 Golf Courses. “This is not one of the most accessible venues for the visiting golfer, so you’ll need to befriend a member to tee it up on the classical William S. Flynn-designed course here at Indian Creek, which dates back to the 1930s,” the website reads. Visitors aren’t allowed to walk around the island I wasn’t allowed to get out of the car and walk around the island, so I took photos through the windows. Gonzalez told me that the island is high-security and that the residents are very concerned with privacy. I spotted one of the private police cars patrolling the island about two minutes into my tour. The island has just one street, Indian Creek Island Road. It’s bordered by lavish homes on one side and the perfectly manicured golf course on the other. Most of the village’s homes sit behind gates, partially shrouded from view by palm trees. Indian Creek Village is home to plenty of celebrities and public figures High-profile investors, Russian billionaires, professional coaches, models and singers, and even US senators have called Indian Creek Village home. Among the wealthy people who have owned homes on the island are supermodel Adriana Lima, former Sears CEO Eddie Lampert and now, NFL star Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen. One of the island’s most famous residents is the singer Julio Iglesias, who owns several properties on the island, Gonzalez said. It’s one of his parcels that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are said to have bought for US$32 million. In 2017, Iglesias was asking for US$150 million for four contiguous vacant lots he owns on the island. Together, the properties would offer 800 feet (243 metres) of water frontage. The singer and actor Ricky Martin also lived on the island at one point, but it’s unclear whether he still does. His home is “quite small compared to the houses of the area,” according to Getty. Inside NBA star Shaquille O’Neal’s just-sold Florida mansion Billionaire investor Carl Icahn also calls the village home. He paid US$7.5 million for his 14,000-square-foot (1,300-square-metre) Indian Creek holiday home in 1997. Yet another notable resident of Indian Creek was Don Shula, former head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Shula, who died in May 2020, and his wife lived in a sprawling white house on the island for more than 20 years. The Indian Creek Country Club sits on the island’s southwest shore “The Indian Creek Country Club is Miami-Dade County’s most exclusive, and controversial, private society,” Gus Garcia-Roberts wrote in the Miami New Times in 2011. The sprawling Mediterranean-style clubhouse includes a swimming pool, a fitness centre, a massage and steam room, locker rooms, a bridge room and a marina. It was built in 1929 by Maurice Fatio, the architect who designed many of the most famous estates in Palm Beach. Next to the clubhouse is a massive banyan tree. Florida is one of the only places in North America where banyan trees, which are native to tropical Asia, can be found. After my tour, I was driven back out of Indian Creek Village. While I’d expected a degree of security on the private island, I didn’t expect it to be quite at that level, from the 13-person private police force to the screening at the guarded gatehouse to the ban on setting foot outside the car or taking photos of the homes. The island is really small – the driving tour took at most 20 minutes, and that was moving slowly with frequent stops. ‘Red packet discounts’ are driving second home sales this Lunar New Year The most telling detail of my short time on the island is that I don’t remember seeing a single civilian on the street or in the gardens, but I saw at least two members of the police force. So while the level of security is definitely, and understandably, a draw to wealthy residents, I found it to be a bit of a deserted island. Want more stories like this? Sign up here . Follow STYLE on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube and Twitter . This article originally appeared on Business Insider