From Oregon to India, these isles let you kick back, let go.
Warm blue water, pristine white sand, swaying coconut palms: Belize’s South Water Caye is a tropical paradise pared down to the alluring basics. Some 30 years ago, only fishermen inhabited this 15-acre islet; today, because it lies distinctly off the Caribbean’s beaten path, frankly, not too much has changed. You can still enjoy the surf’s rhythmic, soporific whush-shhh over sunset drinks at a sandy-bottomed bar.
There’s something magnetic — almost primevally compelling — about a fleck of land bounded by endless sea. And having to share the space with a crowd of tourists can ruin the magic.
Fortunately, secret islands like South Water Caye still exist. And for those willing to search for solitude, the reward may be your own maritime Shangri-la.
“People rarely follow the road less traveled,” says Kelly Shea, a Travel + Leisure A-List agent who organizes journeys in Greece. “They have their minds set on Mykonos and Santorini.”
But Alonissos — in the country’s Northern Sporades archipelago, in the Aegean Sea — is tougher to access. “Americans have never heard of it,” she says, “and there are no luxury hotels. But it has isolated coves where you won’t see another person all day.”
Alonissos’s primary lure is its marine park — at 875 square miles, Europe’s largest — where striped dolphins and endangered monk seals abound.
The isle also features hiking trails that meander through fields of ruby-red blooms, olive groves and pebble beaches. In the cobblestone streets of the old town of Chora, cheery, Venetian-designed tavernas grill up the catch of the day while live Greek music drifts out of open pub windows.
La paradisíaca isla Bangaram yace como una lágrima en el mar increíblemente exótica de color alrededor de las Islas Lakshadweep, India.
