You’ve Done Punta del Este, Uruguay … Now Try Mancora, Peru
“This beach is popular with locals, but few Western visitors have discovered it,” said Ashish Sanghrajka, Latin America enthusiast and president of Big Five Tours. That’s because most travelers to Peru head inland to the Sacred Valley, rather than up the coast. That’s a big mistake.
Not only does Sanghrajka say that the beach town of Mancora—close to the border of Ecuador and a four-hour flight from Lima—has “some of the best banana board surfing in Latin America.” It’s also home to a stunning nine-room resort, Kichic. Nearby, at Túcume, you can still accomplish some of that requisite Peruvian ruin-spotting; the adobe complex is nearly a thousand years old. And soon enough, the country’s luxury resort standard setter, Inkaterra, will open a beach retreat in the vicinity—in a fishing town that inspired Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
You’ve Done the Maldives … Now Try India's Andamans
You’ll see nobody else on the beaches of India’s Andaman Islands, said Black Tomato co-founder Tom Marchant, except for the occasional elephant. That should be selling point enough. (Who doesn’t love elephants?) But the Andamans have even more going for them: Some of the world’s best scuba diving, easy access via suddenly trendy Calcutta, and its first-ever five-star stay, Jalakara. “Now is the time to see these pristine islands before more people get wind of them,” Marchant told Bloomberg. “They’re a haven of natural beauty, a contrast to the bustling mainland and a relaxed alternative to the Maldives and Mauritius.”
You’ve Done Ibiza … Now Try Coastal Portugal
Portugal’s tourism mojo has skyrocketed in the last year, luring many to its romantic cities and dreamy wine valleys, but its rugged beaches have yet to experience the boom. According to Virginia Irurita, who specializes in custom trips to the Iberian peninsula, there “are no unexplored beaches left in Spain,” but several spots along the Portuguese coast are still “wild, beautiful, and empty.” Take Odeceixe (pronounced udd-sesh): It’s set at the juncture of the Atlantic Ocean and the tightly-coiled Ceixe River, which separates the Algarve from Alentejo.
There, you’ll find pristine beaches between the river’s curled banks as well as on the quartz-lined ocean coast—so many of them that you can kayak from one to the next, looking for resident otters or places to avoid human contact. The crowds are thin, in part because there are no luxury hotels. One exception: Herdade do Touril, an affordable boutique bolthole with direct beach access. It's far more stylish and hospitable than its 100 euro per-night price point would let on.
You’ve Done Zanzibar … Now Try Likoma Island, Malawi
Alex Malcolm, founder and managing director of Jacada Travel, says off-the-beaten-path Likoma Island on Lake Malawi “should be considered a ‘world's-best beach,’” both for its “current-free, crystal-clear waters” and its vibrant cultural draws: The island is dotted with fishing villages along its shorelines.