Ten far-flung beaches worth the long-haul flight

Sometimes the daydream is specific: sand like icing sugar, water in shades that don't seem entirely legal, palm trees doing their thing. These ten beaches are the reason long-haul flights were invented. Each is genuinely worth crossing time zones for — but each also has a right and a wrong season, so we've noted when to go. Book the window seat for landing; several of these look even better from the air.

Seven kilometres of almost pure silica sand, so white it squeaks underfoot and never gets hot. Whitehaven is reachable only by boat, seaplane or helicopter from Airlie Beach or Hamilton Island, and the swirling sandbanks of Hill Inlet at its northern end are one of the planet's great aerial views. Visit between June and October for dry-season sunshine and stinger-free swimming.

The world's most photographed beach earns the title: sculpted granite boulders, shallow jade water and pink-tinged sand, on an island where bicycles still outnumber cars. Come at low tide for the sandbars and stay on La Digue overnight — once the day boats leave, you'll share the granite with the herons. April, May, October and November bring the calmest, clearest water.

Five miles of powder protected by a barrier reef that keeps the water preposterously calm and clear. Grace Bay is the easy option done perfectly — the resorts sit politely behind the dune line, motorised sports are pushed elsewhere, and you can snorkel the reef straight off the sand. December to April is peak-season perfect; June brings quiet days and the odd dramatic shower.

Cut off from the mainland by jungle-covered karst cliffs, Railay is reached by longtail boat and feels like an island. Rock climbers dangle above the sand, kayaks nose between the towers, and Phra Nang beach at the peninsula's tip is the show-stealer. Go from November to March, before the heat builds. Sunset from West Railay, with the cliffs turning amber, is the memory you'll keep.

Bora Bora's only real public beach happens to be one of the Pacific's best: a long, gentle point of white sand sliding into a lagoon of impossible blues, with Mount Otemanu brooding behind. You don't need an overwater villa to enjoy it — a modest guesthouse nearby buys the same sunset. May to October offers dry weather and gin-clear water for snorkelling with rays.

South of Mombasa, Diani pairs seventeen kilometres of flour-soft sand with a coral reef, colobus monkeys in the treetops and the option of a safari a short flight away — the classic bush-and-beach combination. Kitesurfers love the steady breeze; everyone loves the dhow trips to Wasini Island. Aim for January and February, or July to October, dodging the long rains.

Way out in the Bay of Bengal, Havelock Island's Radhanagar is a two-kilometre arc of white sand backed by rainforest rather than resorts — development remains mercifully sparse. The swimming is superb, the sunsets cinematic, and the island's dive sites are among Asia's best. Getting there involves a flight to Port Blair and a ferry, which is precisely why it still feels secret. Visit November to April.

On Oahu's windward side, Lanikai — 'heavenly sea' in Hawaiian — lives up to the billing: half a mile of soft sand facing two pyramid-shaped islets, with water made for morning kayaking. It sits in a residential neighbourhood with no facilities, so it never feels like a resort. Hike the Lanikai Pillbox trail at dawn for the view, then spend the rest of the day recovering on the sand.

Regularly crowned the best beach on the planet, Sancho is a wall of emerald water and golden sand beneath cliffs on Fernando de Noronha, a volcanic archipelago 350 kilometres off Brazil's north-east coast. Access is by ladders bolted into a cleft in the rock, which keeps things unhurried, and spinner dolphins commute past most mornings. Visitor numbers are capped, so book flights and the island's environmental permit well ahead. August to December brings the clearest water.

At Mauritius's south-western tip, Le Morne's public beach runs for kilometres beneath a brooding basalt mountain that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site — casuarina shade, a lagoon flat as glass, and kitesurfers streaking across the reef break beyond. The famous 'underwater waterfall' illusion lies just offshore, best admired by helicopter if the budget stretches. Go between May and November for dry, breezy days, and stay put for sunset behind the mountain — it is frankly absurd.