WINTER BEACHES

Let’s face it, sometimes a hot chocolate just won’t cut it. For a real winter warmer, you need to get on a plane and swap sleet for sunshine and dark

days for a beach getaway. With travel restrictions now eased for most exotic locations, check out our top winter beach holiday destinations.

By Martin Mason

Winter

Beaches

Not just a favourite for sun-seeking British holidaymakers, this beach – with its soft white sand, clear turquoise waters and rocky tidal pools – is also regarded by the locals as the best beach in Lanzarote. Located on the south eastern tip of the island in a protected natural park, Playas de Papagayo has lots going on and a handy cafébar where you can sample the local cuisine while watching the sunset majestically behind the mountains in Los Ajaches. There is an admission fee of €3 for vehicles entering the national park. Lanzerote

Majorca

This pretty beach on the west coast of Majorca is one of the island’s hidden gems. Located down a dusty track through the olive groves just outside the village of Deià, Cala Deià is a tiny shingle and pebble beach with beautifully clear water and rocky cliffs that curve around the bay, making it feel quite secret. There are still a few fishermen from the village who go out at dawn every day to cast their nets from here. And for those who prefer to stretch their legs, a path leads around to the scenic Sa Pedrisa watchtower. There’s also a great fish restaurant overlooking the beach.

How about having your own beach and staying in a luxury tent on the small and uninhabited Mogundula Island? It really is one of the most un-spoilt and forgotten tropical islands in the Quirimbas Archipelago, located just over four miles (7km) from the northern mainland of Mozambique. There is a perfect reef with small waves on the seaward side, and a pristine beach, ideal for snorkeling and swimming. The island has a mangrove lake, coconut tree forests and at low tide you can walk around the island and explore the caves. rock pools and coral outcrops. The island is home to some of the most unspoilt and unexplored ecosystems in the Indian Ocean. Mozambique

Fiji

The Yasawas is an archipelago of 90 islands off Fiji’s main island of Viti Levu that boasts some of the world’s most wonderful beaches. Expect to find miles of classic bleached sand unmarked by little except coconut husks and the occasional antlers of bleached driftwood. So fine is the sand, that one stretch – a hop by boat from the Yasawa Island Resort – is known as ‘’eight month beach’’ because it takes that long, say the locals, to get all the grains out of your hair. Visitors stay at the Yasawa Island Resort, an exclusive retreat on one of the most remote and un-spoilt islands of Fiji. Accommodation is in 18 luxury bungalows among the palms, each just a few steps from one of those wonderful beaches. Options include picnicking, snorkelling among coral and tropical fish or indulging in Fiji’s first beachfront spa.

The dramatic mountains that drop into the sea here look as if they’d do for a scene from one of James Bond’s most exotic locations. Anse Chastanet is a perfect beach with a perfect setting, while Jade Mountain is set high on the hills overlooking St Lucia’s Pitons UNESCO World Heritage Site, in full view of both the Piti and Gros Piton mountains. The resorts excellent luxury suites are set in 600 acres of lush forest on the private Anse Chastanet estate, where all the produce is grown – to organic principles, of course. Expect to swish into your suite where bedroom, living area and a private infinity pool merge into one another. There is an abundance of pristine coral reefs virtually surrounding the estate, making snorkelling and scuba diving a piece of cake. St Lucia

Seychelles

Without doubt this is a ‘’pinch yourself’’ beach setting. No wonder Brad Pitt chose it for his first honeymoon. Anse Macquereau is one of seven spectacular beaches where you are unlikely to meet anyone, but will find carefully placed towels and a cooler of bottled water just when you need one. Privacy is what Frégate Island Private is all about and your villa and surroundings are designed for total isolation. It is one of the few places in the world where, should you wish; you can walk along the beach naked without fear of seeing another person. Over Christmas week there will be a string quartet from the Kinshasa Symphony playing to guests in the evenings.