The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘We relaxed on woven sunbeds under palms and snorkelled above the reef ’
We asked you to tell us about your favourite tropical islands – and you delivered a gloriously varied selection
FISH FOR COMPLIMENTS
Ashok, the owner of Weekender Shacks with “good and beautiful security”, was standing by the jetty as the small ferry from Surat Thani docked at the island of Koh Samui. For the equivalent of £1 a night we had direct access to the Gulf of Thailand sea and powdery white sand. The crystal-clear water was helpful when I took my wallet for a swim; just about every banknote was plucked to safety as they gently rippled below the shimmering surface. The beach was the setting for our most memorable meal. Ashok arranged a fishing trip and the kitchen crew baked the fish in foil. We all sat around a long table, washing the meal down with some Singha beers as the orange sun slowly melted.
Jonathan Barnes, Sussex
FEVER DREAM
Dewa was our Buddhist guide during our trip to Sri Lanka. We stayed at a selection of accommodation, from Geoffrey Bawa’s property, with its courtyards thick with lush vegetation, to palaces rich in opulence and grandeur. At the coast we witnessed the devastation left by the tsunami, then when we travelled inland we saw the antics of orphaned baby elephants. At Kandy we visited the Temple of the Tooth, as a retired dentist must. (The tooth remained unseen in a casket, but by description it could be an upper left canine.) Then on the last day of our visit my life was saved, when I collapsed with Dengue fever and spent 10 days in hospital. We will return.
Roger Beeching, Essex
VOLCANIC ATTRACTION
Java, in Indonesia, could easily be overlooked as a tropical paradise simply because of its vast population. Nevertheless, the island has a lot to offer if you know where to look. I’d taken a break from city life in Surabaya on Java’s north-east coast to venture about 100km south to Mount Semeru, which peeps through tropical rainforest at almost 4,000 metres. Nearby is the volcanic caldera of Ngadisari with its two more recent, much smaller, peaks within. One of those is still active, with a steaming pyroclastic cone. However, my main memory is of a ride to the rim on a skinny mule so short that my feet hit every boulder we passed.
Bruce Denness, Isle of Wight
PLANTING AN IDEA
Boracay in the Philippines, with its palm trees, azure water, stunning sunsets and luxury hotels is the perfect tropical island. However, a discussion with our hotel manager revealed that the island had been clipped by a typhoon a few weeks before. The locals were trying to restore land from the devastation and we were invited to a tree-planting. What to wear? I settled for my favoured white trousers. The planters were delighted to see us and we were presented with gloves and trowels to replant a kitchen garden with sweet potatoes. There was nothing for it but to sink down into deep red earth and start planting. The plants were watered by our perspiration. There was profuse thanks for our effort. The trousers never recovered.
Sue Newth-Gibbs, Essex
SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED Chugging along the short distance from Mersing across the South China Sea for a brief stay on the tiny, uninhabited Malaysian island of Rawa, we felt like the rickety wooden boat would never make it. Then we disembarked and were greeted by shallow, turquoise waters; glorious, gleaming white sands; and swaying tropical palm trees. A single hotel with adjacent guest lodges was the only sign of human life.
There was one strict rule on Rawa: no food was to be brought in. One tourist couldn’t resist and thought that an unopened packet of biscuits would do no harm. How he regretted it when a rat crossed his bed in the middle of the night… But nothing spoilt the enjoyment of our daily excursions on foot, the breathtaking snorkelling expeditions and those magical evening sundowners. Rawa has stayed close to our hearts forever.
Christiane Hutchins, Oxfordshire
A WHALE OF A TIME
The Seychelles – an island group scattered across 1,100 square miles of ocean – have it all: tea plantations on Mahé; coco de mer forest and beautiful beaches on Praslin; stunning surf beaches on La Digue; and Soeur Islands’ semi-wild woods bustling with cinnamon, vanilla and unique wildlife.
There’s also Alphonse – a mile-wide island 250 miles south-west of Mahé, with far more natural space and far fewer rooms than the Maldives, but a fabulous restaurant with no walls, to let the Trade Winds through. Most visitors go fly-fishing at sea – meaning even fewer people share Alphonse facilities during the day. We shared the pool with a little heron, snorkelled alone in the mile-wide lagoon, and in a resort RIB followed a humpback whale and calf. Boat trips took us to the almost clichéd “desert island” of Bijoutier and the fishhaunted shallows of St Francois.
James Turpy, Cheshire