Dreaming of Island Trippin'?

Top island destinations

If you want to escape - as in really and truly escape - nothing beats marooning yourself on a tropical island. So here are our picks, from twinkly beach nightlife to blissfully obscure isles. Lashings of luxe guaranteed.

Hot honeymoon hideout - Pamalican Island, Philippines
The Philippines is quietly becoming the place to visit in Southeast Asia. But don't fret - with 7,000+ islands sprinkled across the Pacific Ring of Fire, it has plenty to go around. Our favourite is Pamalican, 360km southwest of Manila. This little island - a 500m sprint across, in parts - is scalloped by powder-soft sands that rival any in the Caribbean. It is also home to the über elegant Amanpulo with its dreamy spa, gourmet dining and 40 steeple-roofed casitas overlooking the piercing blue Sulu Sea.

Rustic barefoot luxury - Lombok, Indonesia
Easy island living at its best, laid-back Lombok is a two-hour boat ride from Bali. Here, traffic comes in the form of horse-drawn carts and squawking chickens, and beaches are dotted with coconut trees and vibey thatched bars. But forget what you remember from your backpacking days. Lombok now rivals the rest for first-class service and style. Stay at the boutique Hotel Tugu Lombok on Sira Beach for magnificent sunrise views of Mount Rinjani, or rent a luxury villa like the stunning Sepoi Sepoi.

Perfect weekend escape - Pangkor Laut, Malaysia
A 300-acre private island three miles off Malaysia's west coast, this picture-perfect scene was two million years in the making. Scooped within an immaculate sandy bay fringed by ancient jungle greenery, the Pangkor Laut Resort offers classic Asian luxury: handsome stilted villas bathed in natural shades, wood and marble. Perfect for an emergency spa weekend, you can indulge in traditional Malay, Chinese, Indian and Thai spa treatments, or work up a (slight) sweat with yoga, tai chi, golf and fishing.

Undiscovered jewel of Indochina - Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
Blessed with virgin forests, unspoilt beaches and warm turquoise waters, it's a miracle Phu Quoc has evaded the tourist masses for so long. Floating 50kms from Vietnam's mainland and a 50-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City, you can expect quaint fishing villages, shallow coral reefs and tasty beachfront eateries. Seafood straight from the sea, people-free white sands and kayaks for hire... what more could you want? Stay at La Veranda, a boutique resort evoking the grandiose of the French-colonial era.

Divers' dream - Indonesia
Searching for paradise? Here's our secret guide. Step 1: Fly to Jakarta. Step 2: Fly to Sorong. Step 3: Take a four-hour boat ride to the tiny island of Batbitim. Behold the greatest concentration of marine biodiversity in the world (fact). Misool Eco Resort is stilted over a blue lagoon amid 425m2 of kaleidoscopic coral gardens. Above water, kick back at your chic driftwood cottage and watch the sun sink over a misty chain of karst limestone islands from your private sun deck. Robinson Crusoe, eat your heart out.

These escapes were brought to you by Lightfoot Travel p. 6438 4091, e. info@lightfoottravel.com

Dreaming of Island T   |   10 May 2010 at 06:20 PM

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