THE GREAT best 33beaches OVERALL INDIA: Beach No. 7, Havelock Island INDONESIA: Nihiwatu Beach, Sumba Island MALDIVES: Baa, FINDER North Ari, and North Malé atolls PHILIPPINES: Palawan Province BEACH THAILAND: Koh Phi Phi The world’s largest landmass has its share of BEACH HOTELS legendary shores. Cynthia Rosenfeld travels to CAMBODIA: Knai Bang Chatt, Kep MALDIVES: Huvafen countries to suss out strands tailored Fushi, North Malé Atoll 12 33 PHILIPPINES: Amanpulo, to every taste and budget—along with where Pamalican Island THAILAND: Amanpuri, Phuket to eat, sleep, party, play, and be pampered VIETNAM: Nam Hai, China Beach Photographs by Håkan Ludwigson BEACH PARTIES INDONESIA: Ku De Ta, Bali SINGAPORE: Sentosa Island SRI LANKA: Wijaya Beach THAILAND: Amanpuri, Phuket; Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan BEACH SCENERY CHINA: The Great Wall, Lao Long Tou INDONESIA: Komodo dragons, Komodo National Park; Tanah Lot Temple, Bali JAPAN: Hot-sand baths, Kyushu Island SRI LANKA: Stilt fishermen, Weligama BEACH SPAS INDONESIA: Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay MALAYSIA: Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi MALDIVES: Huvafen Fushi, North Malé Atoll THAILAND: Kamalaya, Koh Samui; The Sarojin, Khao Lak BEACH SPORTS Land ho! Each of the six villas at Dhoni Mig- INDONESIA: hili, a two-and-a-half- Diving, Banda Sea; surfing,ˆ Sumba Island acre resort island in the Maldives’ North MALDIVES: Sailing, North Ari Atoll; surfing, Ari Atoll, comes with a North Malé Atoll 65-foot sailboat mod- PHILIPPINES: eled on the wooden Diving, Bacuit Bay dhonis used by the ancient Phoenicians. 152 els in sand up to their necks. Don’t save ing energy I could actually feel as she ten- the roughly five-dollar fee by attempt- derly cradled my head or placed both palms ing to dig yourself a hole: Temperatures between my breastbone and stomach to vary dramatically, and amateurs risk dig- calm my core. At this 91-room resort, by far ging their own graves. Daily repetition of Langkawi’s finest accommodations, even this ritual is believed to purify the blood the standard guest pavilions have been de- as the body sweats out toxins, but locals signed for indulgence by top Thai architect swear these body burials also refresh the Lek Bunnag, who nestled the spa’s six treat- soul. The best time to experience this oth- ment spaces around dramatic granite cliffs erworldly scene of steam swirling around (60-4-950-8888; fourseasons.com; doubles, heads poking out of the shimmering eb- $495–$540; beach villas, $1,500; massages, ony landscape is late afternoon, when the $96–$182). sun streaks pink and yellow behind the nearby volcanic island of Sakurajima. Thailand Overnight at the Ibusuku Hakusuikan ryo- Kamalaya, Koh Samui kan, where then prime minister Junichiro At this open-air pavilion built into the Koizumi, seeking to clear political bad rocky cliffs above Koh Samui’s Laem Set blood, hosted his South Korean counter- Beach, eight simple mattresses clad in part in 2004 (81-993-22-3131; hakusuikan high-thread-count cotton are strategically .co.jp/en; doubles, $127–$300). angled to soak up glistening Gulf of Thai- land views. Each time Kamalaya’s Thai < Best Beach Spas > masseuse wrapped her deceptively svelte arms around mine to bend my coach-class- indOnesia ravaged back into the contortion known as Four Seasons Resort Bali cobra, my eyes feasted on the azure expanse at Jimbaran Bay as if imbibing a curative tonic. Afterward, “You are intensely present,” said Dutch I floated back to one of 60 guest rooms set masseuse Elisa Senese after an hour of ad- amid the towering coconut palms and filled ministering water therapy in the Four Sea- with Himalayan treasures by the art-dealer sons Resort Bali’s oceanfront pool, which owner. Thanks to American architect Rob- overlooks a four-mile caramel crescent on ert Powell’s deliberate design, I never lost the southern coast. What would be a com- sight of the sea, except when climbing back pliment back at the office here was a mild up the hillside for another treatment at the rebuke, as the watsu-trained healer encour- ten-room Wellness Sanctuary, which ad- aged me to let go of the stress inherent in ministers everything from flower remedies a transcontinental life. I heard Jimbaran Bay’s gentle churn when my ears broke the surface as Senese took me through under- Credits water spine stretches that painlessly released Page 14: From top: Pablo Bartholomew/Netphotographs tension. More aquatic pleasures, from pri- .com; © Fredrik Renander/Alamy; Emmanuel Dunand/ AFP/Getty Images. Page 18: Condé Nast photo studio. Page vate sea-facing plunge pools to outdoor 20: Chris Wise. Page 22: Clockwise from top right: Cour- showers and soaking tubs, awaited back at tesy Cynthia Rosenfeld; courtesy Gentl & Hyers; Jeremy Hall-Smith; Rodney Smith; Stephanie Pfriender Stylander; the 147 thatched-roof villas sprinkled along courtesy Philip-Lorca diCorcia. Page 42: © Shinya Na- the southern slope of Jimbaran Bay, all kajima, from the exhibition “Shinya Nakajima Television Advertisements: Shinya Nakajima and 29 Art Directors,” with sea views, Balinese textiles, and gener- October 2007. Page 46: Courtesy Michel Harcourt. Page 52: ous daybeds (62-361-701-010; fourseasons Clockwise from top center: © Thierry Falise/OnAsia.com; fotosearch (3); © JoSon/Getty Images. Page 60: From top: .com; doubles, $630–$2,700; one-hour wa- Sime Photo/gigiamarchiori.com; Emmanuel Dunand/Getty ter massage, $110). Images; Marco Moretti/Anzenberger. Page 63: Jose Fuste Raga/Corbis. Page 64: Clockwise from top: Olivier Weid- man/Commencal; G. Simeone/gigiamarchiori.com; Brian Malaysia Stevenson/Aurora. Page 68: Clockwise from top left: Clem- ens Emmler/Laif/Redux; Galen Rowell/Corbis; Christopher Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi Wise. Page 70: Tetsuya Miura. Page 74: Clockwise from top The choice between the amenities of a left: Hu Yuanyong/Imagine China; Martin Westlake; An Fu- bin/Imagine China. Page 76: Clockwise from top left: Rory full-service spa and the convenience of an Spowers; Christopher Wise; Victor Borg. Page 78: Clockwise in-room treatment is rendered moot at the from top: V. Sidoropoler/Travel-Images.com; Charlotte Shalgoski; Frumm John/Hemis Fr. Page 80: Clockwise from Four Seasons Resort’s 2,369-square-foot top: Vincent Gautier/OnAsia.com; OnAsia.com; Pablo beach villas, all 20 of which front the An- Bartholomew/Netphotographs.com. Page 88: Left: East News/Polaris. Right, from top: Istock.com; Leo Hetzel-AP daman Sea. As I plunged into my private Photo; East News/Polaris (2); Istock.com (2). Page 90: From top: Istock.com (2); Niall McDiarmid/Alamy; Cephas/Tim pool, the masseuse readied the massage Hill; Veer.com; Werner Forman/Corbis; Masterfile.com; room. Moving from bottom to top, this Ba- Istock.com. Page 98: Mueller-Naumann Photography. Page linese master worked her strong hands into 102: © Hawaii Air. Page 130: Ralph Davis/Aurora Photos. Page 132: © Fredrik Renander/Alamy. Page 134: Left: Cour- my feet to unlock travel tensions at the root. tesy Ananda in the Himalayas. Right: Courtesy Self-Realiza- Like all therapists here, she is trained in tion Fellowship, L.A. Page 138: Courtesy Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram. Page 144: Herbert G. Pon- Reiki, which allows her to channel balanc- ting/Popper Foto. Page 198: Bernd Jonkmans/Redux/Laif. O C TOB E R 2 0 0 7 241 Asian BEaChes to a full Western medical checkup (66-77- 76-427-900; sarojin.com; doubles, $365– Maldives 429-800; kamalaya.com; doubles, $217– $541; Faa Fairt massage, $150). Sailing, North Ari Atoll $345; Thai massage, $53–$73). “It’s all about the dhoni,” said my friend < Best Beaches for Sports > Katerina Katopis of her recent visit to Dho- The Sarojin, Khao Lak ni Mighili, a two-acre islet cum resort in the Few experiences can top a sunset walk indOnesia Maldives’ North Ari Atoll. The unique sell- along Khao Lak Beach’s nearly seven miles Diving, Banda Sea ing point of the rustic-chic property, which of latte-colored sand; among them is the What nineteenth-century British natural- is limited to 12 adults at a time, is that each Pathways spa’s Faa Fairt massage, still a ist Alfred Russel Wallace observed in the of its six modest villas comes with a 65-foot favorite of mine after two years and doz- biodiverse waters off present-day Indone- sailboat similar to the wooden dhonis used ens of exotic treatments around the globe. sia prompted peer Charles Darwin to pub- by the ancient Phoenicians. Handcrafted I practically skipped across the elevated lish his theory of evolution. Darwin may of balau wood, Dhoni Mighili’s inter- wooden walkway that snakes through this have stolen history’s spotlight, but serious pretations have been updated with cushy 56-room resort. The Sarojin—which has divers seek out the Wallace Line (an eco- comforts like daybeds on deck and Frette minimalist yet entirely comfortable accom- tone in the waters between Bali and Lom- sheets in the stateroom down below, not to modations and gourmet French and Thai bok) and the Makassar Strait, where two mention a crew of three. Traveling skippers cuisine—has led local efforts to put Khao distinct Asian and Australasian ecosys- may miss the hard work of actually keep- Lak back on the holiday map (it was one tems overlap. Former Ambon Island dive- ing the boat afloat, but sybarites like me can of the beach communities hardest hit by shop owner Jason Friedman suggested I sunbathe between scuba dives among the the 2004 tsunami). While a great rub needs submerge myself in the Banda Sea, since kaleidoscopic coral and soldierfish, turtles, no special ambience, a sublime location fish migrate down the Marianas Trench and whale sharks.