Williams Island vs. Turnberry Isle: Which Luxury Aventura Community Is Right for You?

For buyers evaluating luxury condos in Aventura, two communities typically emerge as the benchmarks: Williams Island and Turnberry Isle. Both are gated, both are established luxury addresses, both offer a resort lifestyle and strong resale markets. And yet they are meaningfully different, in setting, scale, amenity philosophy, and the experience of daily life.

Here is an honest side-by-side comparison.

The Setting

Williams Island is a private island, a genuine 84-acre peninsula surrounded by water on three sides, with entrance canals creating a moat-like separation from the mainland. The sense of arrival, crossing the bridge, passing the gatehouse, entering a self-contained island, is distinct and consistent. You are somewhere else. The community is defined by water on all sides.

Turnberry Isle is located in Aventura on a mainland peninsula along the Intracoastal. It is gated and private, but it is not surrounded by water in the same way. The setting is beautiful, waterfront on multiple sides with marina access, but the psychological experience of island living is different. Williams Island buyers often cite the "island feeling" as a primary reason for their choice.

Scale and Community Depth

Williams Island encompasses 13 residential buildings, nine high-rise towers, two low-rise communities, and two non-residential amenity structures, across 84 acres. This scale creates something unusual in luxury residential development: a genuine community. Residents can choose from buildings across a wide range of price points, sizes, and characters. The Williams Island Club serves as a central gathering point for all residents, creating cross-building social connections that standalone buildings cannot replicate.

Turnberry Isle has four residential towers (Soffer at Turnberry, Marina Tower, Aventura Tower, Fairway Tower). The smaller building count creates a more focused community, easier to know your neighbors, more intimate at scale, but buyers have fewer building options, and the amenity infrastructure primarily serves a smaller resident base.

Amenities

Williams Island amenities are community-scale: a full private club with fine dining restaurant, ballroom, spa, fitness center, 6 tennis courts, pickleball courts, children's programming, business center, and a private marina accommodating vessels up to 100 feet. Beyond the Club, the Island Pool & Restaurant provides a resort-style outdoor pool complex with cabanas and alfresco dining, a separate facility from the Club pools. Every residential tower also maintains its own pool, fitness center, and amenities. Total community amenities are unmatched in Aventura. See the full amenities breakdown.

Turnberry Isle's amenities are hotel-quality and leverage the adjacent JW Marriott Turnberry Resort. Residents have access to resort pools, a luxury spa, and golf (the Soffer and Miller courses). The golf access is a genuine differentiator: Williams Island has tennis and pickleball, but no golf. For golfers, Turnberry Isle holds an advantage that Williams Island simply cannot match.

Price Per Square Foot

Both communities operate in the premium luxury segment. Williams Island generally offers more price flexibility due to its larger and older building inventory, entry-level condos in classic towers (1000, 4000, 2000) start around $400/sq ft, while premium buildings like Bellini and Villa Marina trade at $700–$900/sq ft or higher for premium units.

Turnberry Isle pricing tends to be more compressed toward the premium end given a smaller inventory of newer units. Price per square foot is generally comparable to Williams Island's premium buildings.

Lifestyle Philosophy

Williams Island is a resident community first. The private club is members-only, the marina is residents-only, and the atmosphere is of a self-contained private enclave. There are no hotel guests, no transient visitors, and no public-facing amenities. Residents describe the community as a "village", daily life is lived largely on the island itself.

Turnberry Isle is adjacent to a luxury resort, the JW Marriott Turnberry. This creates a different energy: there are hotel guests, conference attendees, and spa visitors sharing some facilities. For residents who want to be connected to the broader hospitality ecosystem (and its restaurants, events, and activities), this is a genuine benefit. For residents who want complete seclusion, it is not.

Which Community Is Right for You?

Priority	Choose Williams Island	Choose Turnberry Isle
Island lifestyle / private island feeling	✓ Strong	Partial
Golf access	No golf	✓ Strong
Marina / boating	✓ Strong (100-ft boats)	✓ Good
Building variety / price range	✓ Wide range	More compressed
Private club, no hotel guests	✓ Residents only	Resort-integrated
Tennis / pickleball	✓ 10 courts	Limited
Entry-level luxury option	✓ More options	Premium-only

If you are a golfer, Turnberry Isle deserves serious consideration. For almost every other lifestyle priority, island seclusion, boating, tennis, community depth, amenity breadth, and price flexibility, Williams Island is the stronger choice.

For a complete guide to buying at Williams Island, see our buying guide. For a building-by-building breakdown, see our buildings guide.