Mogadishu's lively city beach.
Palm-fringed national-park island reached by catamaran, with a starfish-filled natural pool on the way.
Seventeen kilometres of white sand and casuarina trees south of Mombasa, with kite-surfing and colobus monkeys in the trees.
An 8-km beach with no hotels at all, reached by boat through Jaragua National Park — the wildest sand in the Caribbean.
A vast blue lake at 1,900 m with the Sevanavank monastery on a peninsula and grilled trout on the shore.
Laid-back "go slow" Caribbean island.
Jordan’s slice of the Red Sea: coral gardens, a sunken tank and the Cedar Pride wreck in warm, calm water.
Jungle island with 28 white beaches, glowing plankton at night and almost no roads, off Sihanoukville.
Zanzibar’s liveliest beach, dhow builders and turquoise shallows.
Ras Mohammed’s coral walls and the Thistlegorm wreck, with visibility so clear the reef looks lit from within.
Vietnam’s beach resort capital — a long city beach, island snorkelling trips and Cham towers on the hill.
Three tiny car-free islands off Lombok — turtles, reef bars and no traffic at all.
Laid-back pair of jungle islands with clear water and cheap beachfront snorkelling.
Granite-boulder islands in the Andaman Sea with some of Thailand’s clearest water and best coral.
Seven kilometres of pure white silica sand in the Whitsundays, swirling into the turquoise Hill Inlet.
Visit beaches, coral reefs, tropical forests, and historic ruins on Saint John in Virgin Islands National Park.
The easternmost point of the mainland, a lighthouse walk, surf breaks and whales passing offshore.
Dhow trips to the Bazaruto archipelago, dugongs and dune islands in turquoise water.
The resort bay of the north: catamarans to the islands, snorkelling and the nightlife of the island.
The sunniest city, craft beer and the gateway to the golden beaches of Abel Tasman.
A ten-kilometre beach on the Atlantic, rebuilt modern after the 1960 earthquake, and the Paradise Valley behind.
A UNESCO medina by the beach, the Ribat fortress and Roman mosaics in the museum.
Diego Suarez: the second-largest bay in the world, the Emerald Sea and the Amber Mountain rainforest.
Colonial churches, a long beach and the observatories of the Elqui valley behind.
The adobe city of Chan Chan, the Huacas of the Sun and Moon and the surf at Huanchaco.
A windswept Atlantic port with 18th-century ramparts, a fish market and kitesurfing on the beach.
Port Elizabeth: the Friendly City of beaches and the elephants of Addo park, the end of the Garden Route.
Four Mile Beach, reef boats and the Daintree, the quieter northern base for the reef.
A sleepy Portuguese town, and Tofo beach with whale sharks and manta rays all year.
Vasco da Gama's pillar, the Gedi ruins in the forest and the Italian-flavoured beach town.
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