Burnout? Whether it’s exams, stress in the office or at home, we could all use a break, and more often than not, we’d all love to escape to a tropical island where we can wave our worries goodbye. Here are seven getaways where you can watch your stress wash out with the tide.
Island Dream I: Fraser Island, Australia / Pacific Ocean
It’s the largest sand island in the world: Fraser Island, located off the east coast of the Australian state of Queensland, sprawls over an area even larger than Greater London. But while London is neighboured by seven other counties, Fraser Island’s shores are touched only by the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Its aboriginal name, K’gari, means ‘paradise’, and it’s not hard to see why. Leaving behind the sandy beaches for the island’s interior, you’ll find Lake McKenzie, a secret jewel hidden within the rainforest. With white-sand beaches and water as clear as quartz crystal, any stress you bring along is sure to melt away just as soon as you take a dip into its opalescent depths. Burnout? Not today.
16th to 28th May 2017 flights from London to Brisbane from £546
Hotels Fraser Island from £64 nightly base price
Island Dream II: Moorea, French Polynesia / Pacific Ocean
OK, you might not be totally alone when you arrive here – cruise ships do stop in Polynesia, but once you take the public ferry from Papeete (Tahiti) to Moorea and hop on a scooter, you’ll soon understand what’s special about this island. In about six hours you can make a full circuit of the 40 mile-long ring road around the atoll, affording fantastic views of green rocks and blue water from all sides – an island hopper’s dream.
Pass by the pearl farms, forget the five-star clubs and opulent luxury shops and head to the northeast of the island. Here you’ll find a public beach waiting to welcome you. Strap on a mask and snorkel, and enter a garden of coral, teeming with marine life just beneath the surface. If you’re feeling adventurous, swim further out, and you may even encounter a reef shark.
15th to 28th May 2017 flights from London to Papeete from £1114
Hotels Moorea from £75 nightly base price
On KAYAK, finding the perfect beach holiday for your budget couldn’t be simpler: With KAYAK Explore, see the most beautiful beaches with their respective prices, all laid out for you on one easy map.
Island Dream III: San Blás, Panama / Caribbean Sea
Blue skies and turquoise seas. What more could you ask? A single island matching this description is already tempting, but the San Blás archipelago, located off of Panama, gives you 350 perfect examples, complete with enough palm trees, white sands, and tropical breezes to keep you satisfied several times over.
It’s not easy to get there – you’ll need to take an old-fashioned prop plane from the Panamanian mainland – but this is the perfect chance for you to lean back, turn off your phone and leave behind your cares, at least for a while.
On San Blás, you’ll stay with the Kuna people, natives who have inhabited the islands for nearly five hundred years. Upon arrival, you’ll have a chance to soak up local knowledge and another way of life – along with plenty of sunlight – without worrying about your next deadline or exam. And when the spirit moves you, just grab a canoe – the next island’s but a paddle away.
15th to 28th May 2017 flights from London to Panama City from £363
Island Dream IV: Similan Islands, Thailand / Andaman Sea
If you want to visit this archipelago, you might need to wait: as a national park, the Similan Islands (about 75 miles north-west of Phuket) are closed to visitors between May and October. Throughout the rest of the year, however, the National Park Administration grants tourists access to this magnificent realm.
There are not many accommodations available on the islands themselves – in fact, most guests usually sleep on one of the so-called ‘liveaboard’ boats anchored around the island’s waters. But this doesn’t bother them – most visitors to these islands are not interested in the land-based offerings. They’ve come to explore the underwater world.
Tip: for more top diving spots click here.
The diving sites here are ranked among the best in the world, and with such a panoply of species lurking beneath the water’s surface, it’s easy to see why. Where else in the world could you count on seeing a 40-foot whale shark?
2nd to 14th March 2017 flights from London to Phuket from £306
Hotels Khao Lak from £14 nightly base price
Island Dream V: St. Helena, British Overseas Territory / South Atlantic
You can’t beat St. Helena for solitude. It’s virtually unreachable – it does have an airport, but it’s not yet operational, and even post only arrives via a day-long maritime voyage from Cape Town. Indeed, the island, a dreamy, volcanic rock 1,200 miles off the coast of Angola, is most well known for having been a historically-important prison.
After losing the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was exiled here in 1815 to live out the remainder of his days. But a banishment for a toppled Emperor can be a life-changing holiday for a weary traveller.
Tourists here can still visit Longwood House, where Napoleon lived out his sentence, as well as his grave. St. Helena is also a hiker’s paradise, with dramatic, craggy cliffs, valleys, waterfalls and over 400 species of wildlife unique to the island.
But it’s at night, surrounded by the vastness of the universe, where you’ll really find your peace. As you lose yourself in the unsullied darkness, a dreamscape of stars and galaxies will appear, leaving you with little choice but to let go of your quotidian problems and enter a deeper state of consciousness.
16th to 27th May 2017 flights from London to Cape Town from £413
Island Dream VI: Fatu Hiva (Marquesas), French Polynesia / Pacific Ocean
You probably won’t have to contend with any crowds at this destination. Located in French Polynesia, in the South Pacific, the island was the subject of a book by Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer and writer, recounting his and his wife’s life there as they attempted to return to nature and live like the island’s first settlers. Although personal matters stopped the Heyerdahls reaching their ultimate goal, it’s easy to understand why they chose this idyllic island in particular.
A genuine tropical paradise, with monolithic basalt cliffs rising hundreds of yards out of the sea and rainforest-carpeted mountains, this is the perfect spot to illustrate the planet’s natural beauty. While you’re here, you’ll enter a wonderland free from the scars of human activity – a powerful reminder of the wonder and fragility of our home and our responsibility to care for it.
Our recommendation: Take the 16-kilometer hike from Omoa to Hanavave over the verdant, canopied mountains. The perfect walk to cool off your burnout.
15th to 28th May 2017 flights from London to Papeete from £1114
Island Dream VII: Rock Island, Palau / Micronesia / Pacific Ocean
Located between the Philippines and Fiji, the Rock Islands, belonging to the island group of Palau, are one of the most beautiful island formations on earth. Looking rather like a group of furry green toadstools rising from the sea’s surface, they were in fact born from limestone and coral, violently ejected from the ocean depths to form islands.
And they are not only impressive from the surface: known as a divers’ utopia, the surrounding waters are home to thousands of species of fish and sharks, some of which can be seen nowhere else. Within the island as well lie hidden treasures: one lake, on the island of Wil Malk, is home to several species of stingless jellyfish endemic only to Palau. Here, diving is prohibited in order to protect the wildlife, but you can still view this underwater fantasy by means of a snorkel.
Once you dive in, you’ll quickly see there’s no better place to lose your blues.
20th to 29th May 2017 flights from London to Koror from £668
Hotels Palau from £65 nightly base price
So, which of these islands has captured your imagination? Take a chance – burnout is real, but so are our dreams.
Note: These rates are based on search queries made on KAYAK.co.uk on January 3rd, 2017. The prices are quoted in GBP and are the minimum price per night for double occupancy in May 2017. Flight prices are based on results for a return economy flight search. Prices are subject to change, may vary or no longer be available. Prices may change at any time and are subject to certain offers May no longer be available.
