Fiji
Matangi Island
A horseshoe-shaped island wrapped around its own private bay, treehouses hidden in the canopy above.
The resort was built to disappear into the island rather than sit on top of it: treehouse bures tucked into the trees, cottages on the sand, forest over everything. At dusk a colony of Fiji flying foxes lifts out of Horseshoe Bay and streams across the darkening water.
Matangi is a 240-acre private island off Taveuni, in the same family since 1878 and run by them as a small resort since 1986. A volcanic ridge-top trail and a coastal path cross forest loud with birds and fruit bats, and fringing reef circles the whole island, snorkelled straight from the resort's boats. Horseshoe Bay, on the island's far side, made the pages of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die; guests are dropped there with a picnic and kayaks and have the entire bay to themselves. Dive boats run out to the nearby Somosomo Strait's soft-coral reefs.
Couple
A treehouse in the canopy, a candlelit private dining bure and a day alone on Horseshoe Bay make this one of Fiji's most complete romantic escapes.
Solo
Hosted seclusion with substance: ridge hikes, snorkel boats and strait diving fill the days, and the family-run scale means you are known by name by dinner.
- Treehouse bures and beachfront cottages hide on a 240-acre island held by one family since 1878.
- Horseshoe Bay, listed in 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, is yours alone for a day with picnic and kayaks.
- A colony of Fiji flying foxes pours out of the bay's forest at dusk.
- Fringing reef circles the island, and guided snorkelling excursions explore it.
Local fishermen supply the kitchen, and fish arrives plated with taro, breadfruit and island-grown vegetables in the Vale-Ni-Kana dining room.
A picnic hamper on Horseshoe Bay comes with the entire bay to yourselves.
Pennan
Scotland
Houses squeezed between cliff and sea, where a red phone box became cinema legend.
Kimolos
Greece
Volcanic hot springs bubble through the sea floor at a tiny island most itineraries skip.
Loutro
Greece
A village with no road — arrive only by boat or on foot through Cretan gorges.
Crovie
Scotland
Houses pressed against a cliff so tight there's no road, only sea at the door.
Savusavu
Fiji
Hot springs cook the town's dalo beside anchored yachts and a bay farmed for black pearls.
Taveuni
Fiji
Stand astride the 180th meridian in rainforest, one foot in today, one in yesterday.
Tomanivi
Fiji
Cloud forest so thick the trail vanishes, Fiji's highest peak at 1,324 metres above the canopy.