It’s hard to find a scrap of white sand to call your own these days – but they do exist. Try these pure shores...
Guyan Mitra
From the December issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Think of a Southeast Asian beach holiday, and you’ll probably imagine vast swathes of sand, shaded by coconut trees that lean in to sip at mouthwash-blue water.
Book a Southeast Asian beach holiday, however, and you may find yourself on a strip crowded with hulking chain hotels, neon-lit go-go bars and cackling, dollar-hungry hawkers.
The hunt for untouched, idyllic beaches around these parts has traditionally been the preserve of intrepid backpackers: the only types with the time, the temperament and the trust funds to sort the brash from the beautiful.
But with Asian infrastructure modernising at an Industrial Revolution pace and low-cost airlines spreading their wings across the continent, buses and rucksacks are not the only way. You, too, can find your own slice of serenity.
BEST FOR
LITERATURE-LOVERS: Matinloc Island, Philippines
The novel of choice for Southeast Asian sunseekers is Alex Garland’s The Beach, based in an undiscovered paradise. Ironically, most flick through it while sprawled shoulder-to-shoulder on a sunlounger-heavy stretch. Perhaps it’s because they followed Garland at his word and headed for Thailand – where the film version was shot – when the isolated haven that is thought to have inspired him is actually in the northern Philippines.
Hidden on the east coast of sparsely populated Matinloc Island (pictured), ‘Secret Beach’ is word-for-word accurate to the cult novel’s depiction: a pond-still, mint-green lagoon circled by milky-white sand and sealed in by soaring limestone cliffs, which stand as protectorates defending it.
Don’t miss: The entrance. As described in the novel, the best way to reach the beach is by swimming into the lagoon through a crack in the outer limestone wall.
Stay: Miniloc Island Resorts (00 63 2894 5644, www.elnidoresorts.com), a 20-minute speedboat ride away from Matinloc Island, is a strip of cottages sandwiched between rainbow coral and green limestone cliffs. Garden cottage from £122pp, full board.
Get me there: Cathay Pacific (020 8834 8888, www.cathaypacific.com) flies to Manila from Heathrow, from £540 return. Sea Air (00 63 2849 0100, www.flyseair.com) flies from Manila to El Nido from £52, one way.
BEST FOR CRUSOE WANNABES: Gili Meno, Indonesia
The smallest and quietest of the three Gili Islands, just off Lombok’s northwestern tip, is no more than a sun-baked mound of sand sprouting coconut trees. A near-perfect hoop of beach (above) circles the one-by-one kilometre patch, and there’s little to do but listen to the waves and count grains of sand… Which is exactly why you washed up here.
Don’t miss: Turtles, reef sharks and the neon-hued coral and marine life (the fishermen are paid not to dynamite their catch here).
Stay: Villa Nautilus (www.villanautilus.com) has comfy Balinese-style villas with private sundecks facing the beach, from £42, B&B.
Get me there: Singapore Airlines (0844 800 2380, www.singaporeair.com) flies from Heathrow to Lombok, via Singapore, from £665 return. Villa Nautilus (see above) can arrange boat transfers from Lombok (one hour).
BEST FOR FRANCOPHILES: Kep, Cambodia
Once Indochina’s homage to the Côte d’Azur, the golden coves around Kep-sur-mer (as it used to be known) made up the region’s most famous beach resort. These days, many of the splendid old French villas are as overgrown as the temples of Angkor, but Kep (above) is slowly being spruced-up and the tourists are trickling back. Gallic touches are everywhere – from Provençal architecture to the steaming pots of bouillabaisse-influenced crab curry.
Don’t miss: A day trip to Rabbit Island. This uninhabited cluster of beaches is reminiscent of those found in Thailand 30 years ago.
Stay: Knai Bang Chatt (00 885 2321 2194, www.knaibangchatt.com) harks back to Kep’s pre-civil-war heyday, with its Art Deco exterior and dark woods. Doubles from £92, room only.
Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Phnom Penh, via Bangkok, from £657 return. It’s a three-hour taxi ride to Kep (£30).
BEST FOR DIVERS: Sipadan, Malaysia
No more than a speck of sand in the fluorescent waters of the Celebes Sea, Sipadan (pictured) has desert-island looks and heart-stopping aquatic beauty. Jacques Cousteau described the islet ‘an untouched piece of art’. It’s also a diver’s Holy Grail: a couple of lengths out to sea and you’re floating above a 600m coral wall that’s home to more than 3,000 species of fish. Look out for sharks, eagle rays, turtles and barracudas.
Don’t miss: Diving with endangered scalloped hammerhead sharks. Sipadan is one of the few places in the world where you can see these odd-looking creatures with their dustpan-shaped heads. Don’t worry: the schools that head to Sipadan’s reef wall are here to breed, not feed, so the chances of being eaten are slim.
Stay: Sipadan Water Village (00 60 8975 1777, www.swvresort.com) is a 10-minute speedboat ride away on Mabul island. Your home will be in one of 45 ‘Bajau Laut’ (local sea gypsy) cottages on stilts above the water. Morning dips are a cinch: throw yourself off the balcony into the coral garden below. Doubles from £210, room only.
Get me there: Air Asia (0845 605 3333, www.airasia.com) flies from Stansted to Tawau, via Kuala Lumpur, from £300 return. Sipadan Water Village can arrange car and boat transfers (three hours) from Tawau.
BEST FOR GROWN-UP BACKPACKERS: Bottle Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand
Best reached by long-tail boat from the fishing village a few coves along the coast of Koh Phangan, this perfect banana-like curl of beach (left) is cut off from the rest of the island by impassable jungle. It made its name as the ‘chill out’ beach during Koh Phangan’s Full Moon Party heyday in the ’80s, and is now drawing second visits from grown-up hippies.
There’s one important difference though: now, instead of didgeridoos and bongos in well-worn backpacks, tourists bring BlackBerries and trolley suitcases stuffed with nappies. Despite the more mature crowd, this stretch has a relaxed vibe, with open-to-all games of beach volleyball and nightly bonfires.
Don’t miss: The tastiest Thai curry on the island at Smile Restaurant. At the far western end of the beach, guests play cards around knee-high tables, while ‘Mama’ -– as she’s affectionately known -– whips up fiery hot kingfish curries.
Stay: Haad Khuad Resort (book through www.phangan.info/bottlebeach/index.htm) has the fanciest digs for the newly discerning clientele, with split-level beach bungalows. From £20, room only (closed Oct 21 to Dec 20).
Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Koh Samui, via Bangkok, from £620 return. Haad Kuad Resort (see above) can arrange boat transfers to Koh Phangan (30 minutes).
BEST FOR TRAILBLAZERS: Karma Beach, Koh Lipe, Thailand
Hate those smug I-was-there-before-anyone-knew-about-it travellers? Go to Koh Lipe and you’ll get one over on them. This paradise island in the Andaman Sea has been home to the semi-nomadic Chao Leh people (known as sea gypsies) for centuries. And, for the moment, it’s still more a fishing base than a tourist hotspot.
Just north of Koh Lipe’s only fishing village you’ll find Karma Beach – the island’s prettiest stretch – with a Maldivian-style, squeaky-white sandbank that juts out into luminous, coral-filled waters. What you won’t find are any major hotel developments: the big guns haven’t made it here… yet.
Don’t miss: The rest of the islands that make up the Butang archipelago. Kho Rawi (20 minutes by taxi-boat from Karma Beach) has some spectacular dusk-orange coves to explore, as well as a Bounty-ad beautiful (but ice-cold) waterfall.
Stay: Scattered across the clifftop overlooking Karma Beach, Mountain Resort (www.mountainresortkohlipe.com) has basic-but-comfy wooden bungalows, with yawning views across the Andaman Sea. Doubles from £22, B&B.
Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Hat Yai, via Bangkok, from £677 return. From here, Mountain Resort (see above) can arrange car and boat transfers (three hours).
BEST FOR SEAFOOD-LOVERS: Bai Sao Beach, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
Phu Quoc is a classic example of the double-sided Southeast Asian beach scene. Its over-developed corners are a clutter of concrete and Coca-Cola parasols, but slices of solitude can be unearthed if you know where to look. Head for Bai Sao Beach on the east coast for a glimpse of how the island looked before the tourists conquered: a long silk scarf of white sand, with only fishermen to disturb the peace.
Don’t miss: Nearby Han Ninh fishing village, where local traders gather daily with mounds of wriggling catch. You’ll see freshly caught mackerel, langoustine and anchovy – vital for the pungent fish sauce that’s made locally.
Stay: My Lan has the only rooms on Bai Sao Beach itself – pretty basic wooden shacks from £10pp. Luxury-lovers should head for Cassia Cottage (00 84 7738 48395, www.cassiacottage.com), 30 minutes away on Ba Keo Beach; from £90, room only.
Get me there: Thai Airways (0870 606 0911, www.thaiair.com) flies from Heathrow to Ho Chi Minh City, via Bangkok, from £700 return. Vietnam Airlines (00 84 8383 20320, www.vietnamairlines.com) flies from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc from £47 return.
BEST FOR WILDLIFE-ENTHUSIASTS: Golden Beach and Turtle Beach, Malaysian Borneo
These slivers of sand in Similajau National Park are where the undergrowth of Borneo tumbles down to the South China Sea. On Turtle Beach, a waterfall cascades through a succession of rapids onto the sand, gloriously announcing to the ocean that the jungle has arrived.
This is a place for lovers of creatures great and small: hornbills screech and squawk over the honeyed beaches, while salt-water crocs sunbathe on the banks of the estuaries and rock pools (needless to say, these stretches aren’t for swimming). You’ll even see two kinds of dolphins: river and ocean dwellers.
Don’t miss: The chance to watch sea turtles laying their eggs in April. It can be a tiring vigil to stay up all night staring at the silvery moonlight – but it’s worth the wait, when you see mama turtles emerging from the sea to deposit their tiny eggs on the beach.
Stay: Accommodation is run by the National Park (00 606 082 391284, www.forestry.sarawak.gov.my). Expect a range of options, from camping to wooden chalets on the seafront, which are simple, but clean and comfortable. Doubles around £30, room only – nightly macaque-led serenades included.
Get me there: Air Asia (0845 605 3333, www.airasia.com) flies from Stansted to Bintulu, via Kuala Lumpur, from £440 return; it’s a 45-minute taxi ride to the National Park.
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