My favourite place

Designer Tabitha Webb on Harbour Island

I discovered Harbour Island 12 years ago, when I was trying to woo my husband. My sister had told me it was the most heavenly island on the planet and so I decided it was the perfect place to make Gav fall desperately in love with me. The hotel I’d chosen was empty and falling down – it doesn’t exist any more – but there’s a real magic to the island and we fell in love with everything about it.

There’s no easy way to get there directly unless you’re a multibillionaire with a private jet. In the past, we’ve flown to the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau, then hopped on a tiny plane to the neighbouring island of North Eleuthera and taken a water taxi to Harbour Island. When we go this Christmas, we’re doing it differently: we’ll fly to Atlanta and get a direct flight to North Eleuthera from there.

The island is so small that everyone gets around on golf carts, which is especially fun when you get caught in a rainstorm. It’s a quirky, pretty place, with such a happy vibe. For a person like me who loves colour, it’s paradise: the houses are a rainbow of pinks, yellows, blues and greens, and there are flowers everywhere. I can walk around taking photos for hours.

We can usually be found on Pink Sands Beach on the east of the island, a vast swathe of silken sand that really does look bright pink. It’s incredible for kids because the water is crystal-clear and really calm. My daughter Betsey, who is now eight, always says it’s the best place in the world, and the last time we were there, an enormous manta ray swam right up to her. (I thought it was a shark and yelled, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to die! Get out!’)

I’m a complete sunshine addict, so sitting in the sun and drinking beer all day makes me very happy. We even named our cat Mr Banks after the island’s beer, so we always have a little memory of Harbour Island in the house.

My other favourite thing to

do is go out on a speedboat for the day. Gav loves to fish, and I like to snorkel off the boat and make sure the children don’t drown. On our last visit, we hired a boat through Aqua Bliss Charters one day, and the captain took us to where you can swim with the famous Bahamian wild pigs and wild turtles. That’s a really great day out.

The island has some gorgeous restaurants, but the best place to eat conch – the traditional seafood of the Bahamas – is Queen Conch, a wooden shack on the bay run by a local family. Conch is a large sea snail that tastes a bit like squid, but sweeter. You can’t beat a cold beer and a plate of cracked (deep-fried) conch or their spicy conch salad – although I always make my husband eat the salad first, to check he copes with the spiciness!

Last time we visited Harbour Island, we met a family who have become our best mates and we’re going to take a house together this Christmas – if travel there continues to be permitted in the winter. It’s an amazing time of year to be there because they have the junkanoo, a massive New Year’s Day parade that’s like a carnival. Everybody dresses up and the islanders spend months preparing their costumes and the music. People come over from North Eleuthera to see the parade, and you can spot lots of super-cool, very famous people in the crowd.

I’ve only been to the island three times, but I’ve decided to try to go back annually from now on. The really magical thing about the place is you forget about everything because you’re a world away. I remember sending my mum a photo when I was there a few years ago and she replied, ‘I’ve never seen you look so relaxed.’

Tabitha Webb’s first novel, No Regrets, is published by HQ , £7.99

Above Pink Sands Beach. Below Tabitha Webb with Betsey on their last visit

Houses are painted in pastel shades

Above Tabitha’s husband Gavin with Betsey; Harbour Island, seen from the air