The Maldives, Maldives

The Maldives is less a destination than a state of mind: 1,200 coral islands scattered across 26 atolls, none rising more than two metres above a lagoon of impossible blues. Days here are measured in swims — over house reefs with turtles and reef sharks, out to manta cleaning stations, or simply down the ladder from your villa's deck.

We work with a shortlist of resorts we've personally stayed at and re-inspect yearly — from castaway-chic hideaways without shoes or news to design-led islands with some of the best dining in the Indian Ocean. Every one is chosen for its reef quality first, thread count second.

Add a seaplane arrival at golden hour, a sandbank picnic with no one else in sight, a night dive with bioluminescence — the Maldives does luxury quietly, and that's exactly how we plan it.