Editor’s Note
Islands or Mountains. This notion seems to find centre stage in our household whenever a discussion of holiday destinations is mooted. Mountains are majestic and cooling, a change of scenery and the possibility of a retreat, so the supporting argument goes. Edited out are the tiring uphill walks, the magnitude of steps that need to be trekked every few hours, panting, just to get around within a property, and the every important - distance between bed and buffet table!
Islands are so much easier and stress-free. “I came, I saw, I conquered” so the saying goes. To demonstrate–you drive to the property, you sink down in a cabana on the beach, you have cocktails with a tiny umbrella in the said cabana, you doze off in the cabana, sand – right there next to your feet, bar – a shout away, food – right behind you in the beach shack with perfectly barbequed seafood, sea breeze – yup the nature button has been left switched on 24 hours a day, music – yes, the waves are doing their thing on the beach. After a few days of this sensibility, you go back home. Done. Mission Accomplished.
For the active, there is the water sports ensemble both over and underwater. For the social media-driven enthusiasts, Nature has been hard at work for millennia creating these Instagramable ready islands that are bound to drive the ‘like’ counter. Islands also come in an assortment of sizes, from the ones that exist for only a few hours a day to those that house a few million souls. In the fight between islands and mountains, this author leans very much in favour of the specks of sand and palm encrusted isle.
This edition explores the world of island getaways to the soundtrack of the Beach Boys 1988 single ‘Kokomo’ playing in the background. The features springboard from Bahamas’ sweet little sister Harbour Island, take a tour of Jamaica, Sardinia, Seychelles, Yakushima, Mykonos, St Barths, Bora Bora, Con Dao, Mauritius and Cancun, concluding the adventure on Tenerife’s blonde beaches.
Our frolic in sand finds us dedicating an entire section to Asia’s calling card, its sun-kissed islands. We whisk you away to Boracay, Koh Samui, Langkawi, Phu Quoc, Sanya, Da Nang, Sumba and the Addu Atoll, exploring local adventure and picture-perfect locations. For the elite traveller, our exclusive island stays capture the art of indulgence on nine islands. The silhouette of luxury on these islands captures privacy, space, opulence and the dramatic. It’s the high life island living.