Turks & Caicos

Turks and Caicos has one core asset and it is a masterpiece: Grace Bay, routinely voted the best beach on the planet, twelve miles of flour-soft sand beside water so clear that boats seem to hover over their own shadows. The third largest barrier reef on earth sits just offshore, which means snorkelling and diving that beginners and experts rank equally highly, plus the annual bonus of humpback whales migrating through the Turks Island Passage each winter. Provo delivers the polish: superb resorts, villas and a food scene built on conch, best sampled shack-side at Da Conch Shack with your feet in the sand. Beyond it, the quiet islands wait: Grand Turk's salt-town streets, North and Middle Caicos' caves and empty coves. Simple formula, flawlessly executed.