Jane Labous sets her compass for sunshine, seclusion and sybaritic splendour, and goes in search of the ultimate get-away-from-it-all experience on these tranquil island resorts.
This article was taken from the January 2012 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.
The Laamu Atoll is one of those places you know exists – but never think you’ll visit. Marooned in the middle of the Indian Ocean, forming the outer limit of the central Maldives, it’s a little sliver of paradise. Olhuveli Island is privately owned and just a short hop from the capital island of Malé. The diving here is second to none; the amount of land above sea level in the Maldives represents only a tiny fraction of what lies beneath. The islands are the visible coral tips of an oceanic volcanic mountain range – whose outer edge at some points plunges to depths of over 3,000m. Deep channels separate the atolls around Olhuveli where dolphins play and rainbows of exotic fish pass through the coral reef. Take one of the daily boat trips to dive, swim, snorkel or picnic on a sandbank and if you’re lucky you might see a manta ray or even the occasional whale shark. Six Senses Laamu is the only resort on the island, a collection of villas cast away in the lagoon and on the beach. On the horizon lies a surfing break with three-metre waves crashing onto the beach. Back on land, you can explore a tiny nearby fishing village and a ‘bottomless’ lake in the interior of the island, so deep the water’s black. Fresh ingredients are of the essence here; call in on the chef and you might catch him using a hunigondi to grate coconut flesh into kaashi kiru (coconut milk). You’ll also dine on fruit from the resort’s own garden, complete with papaya trees and a lovingly tended chilli patch.
Villas at Six Senses Laamu cost from £468 per night, based on two sharing (sixsenses.com). Sri Lanka Airlines (srilankan.lk) flies from London to Malé. Olhuveli Island is a 40-minute connecting
flight or 10-minute speedboat ride from Malé.
Ibo Island, at the heart of the Quirimbas archipelago in northern Mozambique, is a lost world dotted with forts that once served as military bastions and slave houses; a bloody history that is largely forgotten by the outside world. João Baptiste, Ibo’s self-proclaimed historian, will tell you all about the island’s turbulent past since the 1600s, when it was routinely conquered by Portuguese and Omani Arab rulers and raided by the French for slaves. But that’s not all you’ll discover here. One of Africa’s largest mangrove forests is rooted in Ibo Island, encircled by a coral reef, and this is where you’ll find elusive dugongs, those rarely glimpsed marine mammals that fishermen used to mistake for mermaids. You’ll also encounter 700 species of birds, many of them rare, and three sun-bleached beaches. When the tide is low, the sand often reveals ancient pieces of porcelain left over from trading days. Ibo Island Lodge is an oasis of luxury in this wilderness. The nine-bedroomed colonial house, which has its own private beach, was renovated by an English couple who fell in love with the island in 2006. During the renovations, everything from packets of nails to sacks of cement was transported to the island by dhow. The last seafaring dhow arrived on Ibo Island from India in 1969, but it’s still the best way to get around. Step on board and sail off under the care of your Mozambican captain. He’ll anchor off remote, uninhabited islands such as Mogundula and Matemo, leaving you to snorkel and swim or simply laze on the silver sand while the ship’s chef cooks up crab claws, kingfish, lobster, lula (squid) and linefish. You can also go big-game fishing, and perhaps catch a prized mahi mahi, yellowfin tuna or sailfish in time for dinner. Or simply paddle a kayak out into the blue for an hour or two – the sight of the gin-clear water sparkling beneath you is therapeutic.
A room at the Ibo Island Lodge costs from £212 per person per night, based on two people sharing (iboisland.com).
British Airways (ba.com) flies from London to Dar es Salaam, where you can travel with Air Mozambique (lam.co.mz) to Pemba. Ibo Island is a 20-minute private plane ride from Pemba.
If it’s peace and quiet you’re after, you’ve come to the right place. Petit St Vincent, also known as PSV, is a privately owned island resort 40 miles south of St Vincent in the Grenadines, wrapped around two miles of golden, sandy beaches. You won’t find a string of flash hotels lining the shore. Instead you can take your pick of 22 spacious cottages, some high up in the green hills, others just a stone’s throw away from the beach. On Petit St Vincent, there is no check-in, keys, telephones or computers – if you need something, simply hoist the yellow flag and if you’d rather not be disturbed run up the red one. For those wanting a little bit of adventure, paved pathways wind through the forest, past banyan trees and tropical flowers, to the 84m summit of Marni Hill. Spread below are the sparkling waters of the island, home to many reef fish and turtles, which makes the area perfect for snorkelling. And, as privacy is a way of life here, you’ll rarely have to share your spot with anyone else. Dining on the island is a celebration of local Caribbean ingredients. Fresh seafood is an absolute must; try poached red snapper, plantain and coconut basil broth washed down with Sunset rum or an iced Hairoun beer.
A cottage at Petit St Vincent costs from £660 per night, based on two people sharing (psvresort.com). British Airways (ba.com) flies from London to Barbados, where you can travel with SVG air (svgair.com) to Union Island. Petit St Vincent is a 20-minute private boat ride from Union Island.
Seen from the air, Aitutaki – one of 15 main islands in the Cook archipelago – is amoeba-shaped, surrounded by a ruffle of surf enclosing a blue-striped lagoon. When you touch down on land, you find yourself surrounded by fine sand, coconut palms and translucent waters populated with sea cucumbers and waving corals. Aitutaki itself is surrounded by 15 motu (islets). One of the best ways to see them is to join a boat tour and sail out to one of the miniature coral outcrops. You can set up camp for a day, snorkelling the shallow waters, sunbathing and picnicking on the white sand. Your captain will prepare lunch featuring coconut-marinated tuna, avocado, kumara (a staple similar to sweet potato) salad, and lots and lots of papaya. This fruit is so abundant that you’ll find yourself eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner – as well as discussing its endless culinary possibilities with others. The captain will also present you with a fresh coconut, slicing off the top with a machete. Shampoo plants, breadfruit and numerous medicinal herbs grace the interior of the island – and at breakfast at Aitutaki’s most luxurious hotel, the Pacific Resort, you’ll find plenty of fresh fruit juices. The resort is beautifully set right on the lagoon; all its private villas have steps leading onto a deserted white-sand beach. Take advantage of the infinity pool in the afternoons when the lagoon shoreline becomes a little too hot for comfort, and end your day at the local tumunu (drinking den) where bush brew is the drop of choice. A coconut-shell cup is passed around a circle of people and everyone is obliged to drink once. Be warned; after that, it goes round again, and again…
A premium beachfront bungalow at Pacific Resort costs from £650 per day, maximum three people sharing (00 682 31720, pacificresort.com). Air New Zealand (airnewzealand.co.uk) flies from London to Rarotonga, where you can travel with Air Rarotonga (airraro.com) to Aitutaki.
Koh Ouen and Koh Bong sit side by side in the shimmering Cambodian waters of the Koh Rong Archipelago. The two islands, adopted by Rory and Melita Hunter, make up Song Saa (Khmer for ‘sweethearts’), a sustainable resort paradise with 27 villas. The islands are connected by a footbridge arching over a marine reserve. It covers more than one million square metres of protected reefs where dugongs and seahorses come out to play. The shallow turquoise water harbours red and pink corals, yellow lichen and schools of parrotfish, which makes it ideal for snorkelling. If hedonism is more your thing, retreat up the icing-sugar-soft sand to Koh Bong for spa treatments. Come nightfall, a personal guide will rush you and your newly balanced chakra out to sea to spy on the antics of ultraviolet jellyfish and violently luminous tropical fish that dazzle in the dark. The nearest village, Prek Svay on the mainland, has orchards that supply the bulk of fruit served at Song Saa’s main restaurant, Vista.Each dish on the menu contains at least one local ingredient, be it kampot pepper or palm sugar. Both Vista and the Driftwood tapas bar offer sustainable seafood. Sea urchin and baby squid feature heavily, as do black grouper baked in home-made sea salt, and prahok (fermented fish fried with pork belly, puréed, then topped with green mango ice cubes and cucumber jelly). Whiskey sours infused with lemongrass and kaffir lime ensure even the drinks menu reflects Khmer cuisine, with its balance of sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavours. The early months of the year are the perfect time to sample jasmine rice and spiced frog’s legs, a by-product of the rice harvest.
A villa at Song Saa costs from £501 per person per night (00 855 236 860 360, songsaa.com). British Airways (ba.com) flies from London to Bangkok, where you can travel with Bangkok Airways (bangkokair.com) to Siem Reap. Song Saa is a one-hour private plane ride from Siem Reap, or a 30-minute speed boat ride from Sihanoukville.
As you moor up on the ‘drowned island’ of Anegada in your pirate ship flotilla, you are instantly struck by the peculiar flatness of your temporary home. Anegada, made up of 39 square km of coral and limestone rock, resembles a giant surfboard floating on Caribbean waters. This breezy approach to life is reflected in the free-and-easy attitude of the island’s permanent residents. The Anegada Reef Hotel’s ‘honour bar’ allows guests to pour drinks for themselves at will, and settle the bill according to their own best guess come closing. You’ll find a healthy stash of Caribbean nutmeg behind the bar, used generously in the island’s signature Bushwhacker cocktail – a mishmash of Irish cream, amaretto, Kahlua, Grand Marnier and vodka. Brother and sister Lawrence and Lorraine Wheatley run this palm-strewn resort with a pleasantly paradoxical mix of swift efficiency and chilled-out flair. Visitors have the unchecked run of the family library and can spend hours meandering along the 29km Horseshoe Reef with a decent book and a cane rum smoothie, as a Caribbean calm gradually sinks in. Friend and fisherman Captain Clinton Vanterpool will take you bonefishing among the marooned ships at Cow Wreck Beach, so named after the skeletons of livestock from ill-fated cargo boats that can still be found buried below the sand. Those with snorkelling gear will inevitably find their way to Loblolly Bay, where yellowtail snappers and blue tang career about en masse. Sea lavender and elkhorn coral can also be found in the bay, while the scent of white-petalled frangipani trees drifts from the shore. Look out for the 2-metre-long iguanas wriggling freely through The Settlement – the only town in Anegada – and the flocks of salmon-pink native flamingos, which were successfully reintroduced back to their native habitat 20 years ago. Setting Point to the west of the island is one of the best patches for conchs (a type of mollusc). At Potters by the Sea (00 284 495 9182), you’ll be ushered from your dinner table into the shallows to pluck the meatiest-looking lobster from the water for cooking on an open grill, or you could indulge in a plate of crispy conch fritters.
The Anegada Reef Hotel cost from £94 per person per
night (00 284 495 8002, anegadareef.com). A villa at Lavenda Breeze
costs from £2,197 per week (00 284 495 8045, lavendabreeze.
com). Cow Wreck Villas costs from £173 per night (00 284 495
8047, cowwreckbeach.com). British Airways (ba.com) flies from
London and Manchester to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. From
here, you can board a boat or take a charter plane to Anegada.
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