Where to go in January

Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Humid, green, entirely waterborne

33°C in January, and dry · sea at 31° · 5h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Turquoise Bay, Ningaloo Reef, Australia

Remote, sun-bleached, reef-obsessed

32°C in January, and dry · sea at 24° · 18h 10m from Los Angeles · 5–7 nights

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Ningaloo Reef, Australia

Red rock, empty road, clear water

31°C in January, and dry · sea at 24° · 18h 10m from Los Angeles · 5–7 nights

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The Atacama Desert, Chile

Thin-aired, mineral, astonishingly clear

27°C in January, and dry · 10h 20m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Abu Dabbab, Marsa Alam, Egypt

Hot, still, entirely underwater

23°C in January, and dry · sea at 24° · 15h 50m from Los Angeles · a week

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The Pantanal, Brazil

Hot, teeming, wide-open wetland

33°C in January · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Ometepe, Nicaragua

Slow, rural, volcano-shadowed

27°C in January · sea at 27° · 5h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Puerto Rico

Tropical, historic, easy-going

29°C in January · sea at 27° · 7h 05m from Los Angeles · a week or more

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Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean

Dry, quiet, reef-obsessed

27°C in January · sea at 28° · 7h 15m from Los Angeles · a week or more

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Garden Route, South Africa

Green, coastal, adrenaline optional

24°C in January · 20h 10m from Los Angeles · a week

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The Masai Mara, Kenya

Golden, wide open, big sky

27°C in January · 19h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Trinidad

Loud, generous, unpolished, food-first

28°C in January · sea at 28° · 8h 05m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Yala, Sri Lanka

Dusty, thorny, adrenal at dawn

28°C in January · sea at 28° · 18h 30m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Baía do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

Wild, protected, gloriously remote

27°C in January · sea at 28° · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Cape Tribulation, Australia

Ancient, humid, quiet, wild

30°C in January · sea at 30° · 14h 20m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Tobago

Green, unhurried, low-key Caribbean

25°C in January · sea at 28° · 8h 10m from Los Angeles · a week

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Cairns, Australia

Humid, practical, reef-focused

30°C in January · sea at 30° · 14h 20m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Príncipe, São Tomé and Príncipe

Green, volcanic, almost untouched

27°C in January · sea at 30° · 16h 15m from Los Angeles · a week

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Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Remote, reef-rich, spectacularly quiet

28°C in January · sea at 30° · 14h 45m from Los Angeles · a week or more

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Kadavu, Fiji

Boat-only, forested, deeply unhurried

27°C in January · sea at 29° · 11h 15m from Los Angeles · 5-7 nights

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Mahé, Seychelles

Lush, granite-strewn, unhurried

27°C in January · sea at 29° · 20h 30m from Los Angeles · a week, combined with praslin or la digue

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Moorea, French Polynesia

Dramatic, lush, gently paced

27°C in January · sea at 29° · 8h 25m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Madeira, Portugal

Green, terraced, gently adventurous

18°C in January · 11h 15m from Los Angeles · a week

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Sepilok and the Kinabatangan, Borneo, Malaysia

Humid, green, quietly astonishing

29°C in January · 15h 35m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Lush, wildlife-rich, easy-going

27°C in January · sea at 30° · 5h 50m from Los Angeles · 2-3 days, as part of a wider costa rica trip

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Bocas del Toro, Panama

Ramshackle, humid, water-bound

26°C in January · sea at 29° · 6h 05m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Isles of Scilly, England

Tidal, wind-scoured, softly subtropical

10°C in January · 10h 45m from Los Angeles · a week

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Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Remote, dense, gloriously noisy

5h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–5 nights

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Spiaggia dei Conigli, Lampedusa, Italy

Bare, blinding, distinctly North African

13h 25m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

Quiet, green, properly alpine

5°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Triglav, Slovenia

Alpine, earnest, quietly demanding

5°C in January · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Utrecht and the Veluwe, the Netherlands

Flat, green, effortlessly civilised

6°C in January · 11h 15m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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A farm cottage in Snowdonia, Wales

Wild, woolly, wood smoke and weather

7°C in January · 10h 40m from Los Angeles · a week

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Ordesa y Monte Perdido, Spain

Vertical, green, properly wild

1°C in January · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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The Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

Vertical, orderly, meadow-scented

5°C in January · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a week

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Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut, Austria

Green lakes, cog railways, alpine order

4°C in January · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 5–7 nights

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