Best winter holiday escapes: Islands
Why not escape to an island where the water’s warm all winter, and the locals are even warmer? Here are 10 of the best options.
Savour the sun and sunfish on Bali’s quietest island
You don’t have to travel far to leave Bali’s crowds behind. Take a taxi 18 kilometres from the airport to Sanur on the east coast, then a 35-minute ferry to Nusa Penida. Australians have visited its neighbour, Nusa Lembongan, for decades, but Nusa Penida offers a much quieter escape. A bird sanctuary, it’s home to some of Bali’s rarest, like the critically endangered Bali starling. It’s also a diving hot-spot, and now until October it’s the best place in Asia to dive with mola mola (ocean sunfish) which grow up to three metres long. See indonesia.travel
Hop to it for some Fijian island hopping
Cloud Nine.
Escape the winter blues by island hopping around Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands, a few kilometres offshore from Denarau Island. Ride a South Sea Cruises catamaran or your own private speed boat transfer between 10 of Fiji’s best islands, that offer everything from the world’s first beach club on its own island, Malamala Beach Club, to a floating bar and restaurant, Cloud Nine, where DJs play beside one of the world’s best waves. Accommodation ranges from three-star bungalows to luxurious private island resorts, like Six Senses Fiji. See fiji.travel
Uncover Tahiti’s secret Society Islands
Explore the secret islands of Tahiti’s world-famous Society Group of Islands. While Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora are five-star travel hot-spots, their neighbours are complete secrets, yet they’re every bit as picturesque. Access lesser-known islands like Huahine and Raiatea with short flights from Papeete, and discover what Tahiti would have looked like 40 years ago. Then take a short boat ride to Raiatea’s neighbour, Tahaa, for a taste of traditional Polynesia. Accommodation is much cheaper here; also consider the Apetahi Express ferry which travels between the islands for less than $150 from Tahiti. See tahititourisme.com.au
Experience your own Polynesian desert island
Escape the winter blues on one of the South Pacific’s most idyllic islands – Savaii. While Samoa’s most populated island – Upolu – is hardly a metropolis, you’ll find an island only one hour away by ferry with two-kilometre-high mountains emerging straight out of lagoons and where locals live in villages ruled by chiefs in a subsistence lifestyle. The water won’t drop below 26 degrees through winter, whales pass close to shore and you’ll find some of the most under-rated diving and surfing in the Pacific. Stay in simple retreats or homestays, or luxe it up on the island’s best beach. See samoa.travel
Sail the world’s largest lagoon
Go sailing in the world’s largest lagoon – less than three hours’ flying time away. Now until October offers the best sailing weather in New Caledonia – with reliable south-east trade winds and the least rain. Protected by the world’s second longest barrier reef with more than 200 safe anchorages, New Caledonia is one of the safest places on Earth to charter your own yacht or take a skippered yacht cruise. There are over 30 marine reserves to explore, and you’ll see humpback whales and their calves close by until October. The lagoon is World Heritage-listed. See newcaledonia.travel
Sail the world’s largest lagoon in New Caledonia.
Discover Bali’s less trammelled east coast
Leave the high season crowds behind and venture east to Bali’s less travelled black sand coast. Though it’s barely 90 kilometres from the international airport, few Western tourists – except divers – come to East Bali, but it’s here you’ll find the Bali of 30 years ago. Rice terraces tended by farmers with water buffalo spill down hillsides; locals live in traditional villages beneath active volcanoes, and there’s almost no traffic. Divers come to Amed for Bali’s best dive sites, but there’s more on offer, from bars and restaurants on stunning beaches to yoga retreats built in rainforest with decks overlooking the sea. See indonesia.travel
Take a good look at Vanuatu’s overlooked idyll
The Havannah sits on one of Vanuatu’s prettiest bays.
While there are 83 islands in Vanuatu, you actually needn’t drive more than an hour from the airport to discover some of the Pacific nation’s best-kept secrets. The road north of the airport (and Port Vila) was only paved a decade or so ago – and travellers still overlook what’s on offer here. Drive 40 minutes and you’ll find Vanuatu’s best luxury resort, The Havannah, in one of its prettiest bays. Dine on the beach at The Havannah overlooking secret islands like Pele and Nguna just a 15-minute boat ride west, home to marine sanctuaries, white-sand beaches and traditional villages where you can stay overnight. See vanuatu.travel
Go fly a kite in a bluer-than-blue lagoon
The South Pacific has the best locations on Earth to learn to kite-surf, but nowhere beats Aitutaki during winter when consistent trade winds blow. Located 35 minutes’ flying time from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, Aitutaki’s lagoon is almost four times as big as its land mass (at 74 square kilometres), with an average depth of two-to-five metres of impossibly clear, warm water. Learn to kite surf between 14 tiny uninhabited islands, entirely protected inside a barrier reef shaped like an equilateral triangle with 12-kilometre sides. Stay at resorts beside the lagoon, and take boat tours on the lagoon between lessons. See cookislands.travel
Swim with whales in warm blue ocean
Tonga is the best place on Earth to swim with migrating humpback whales. Come to the Vava’u Islands in August or September to get as close as possible to these 15-metre giants of the sea. You’ll have five days in 26 to 28 degree water observing mothers and their calves and males performing mating rituals. When you’re done swimming for the day, stay in bungalows right beside the ocean, living the simple “anga fakatonga” Tongan way of life in temperatures that won’t drop below 25 degrees, even at night. See tongatourism.travel
Form a plot to unearth Fiji’s secret garden
Taveuni, Fiji.
Fiji isn’t a single destination – there are 333 islands here. Fly 75 minutes north of your arrival point in Nadi and you’ll find Fiji’s most pristine island is still a secret to most. Taveuni is dubbed the Garden Isle. More than 80 per cent of the island is protected within a national park, and there are flowers and birds here seen nowhere else on Earth. But while it’s an adventurists’ dream (its prehistoric forest is full of waterfalls) there’s also an impressive offering of luxury retreats spread across a coast bordering some of the best dive locations in Fiji. See fiji.travel
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