The Best Travel DestinationsMost Beautiful Places in the WORLD

The Madives offer spectacular diving in the Indian Ocean, with warm, shallow lagoons that are perfect for beginners and deeper channels with faster currents for the more experienced. If you’re looking for wrecks, the Maldives Victory will provide your fix. It hit the island of Hulhulé in 1981 and, along with building materials and provisions, met its watery grave.

If coral is more your thing, Banana Reef has all the colored coral and marine life you could ask for, complete with fish that swim up close. Finally, if you’re the kind of diver who isn’t happy until you’ve stared into the beady black eyes of a killer shark, then Shark Point may be the dive site for you: Expect gray reef and whitetip reef sharks to keep you company.

Although it’s a mere 2.8 miles off the eastern tip of Zanzibar, Mnemba Island is about as far from civilization as you’re ever likely to feel. Every vista here looks like a shot from a honeymoon brochure, with 10 romantic beachside lodges each with their own verandas overlooking the sea, untouched white beaches, shimmering blue waters, and the type of glowing sunsets only ever seen in the movies. The island is just one mile in circumference, with a conservation barrier that protects the coral reefs, giant turtles, ghost crabs, and tropical fish that surround it. It’s no wonder it was voted one of the top three most romantic islands in the world by trusty Condé Nast. Walk barefoot along the shore in your linen trousers, indulge in fresh fruit for breakfast and fresh lobster for dinner, enjoy a spot of windsurfing, deep-sea fishing or kayaking, and sink into crisp linen sheets all in one day at Mnemba Island.