When people sit in their homes in the depths of winter, with rain, wind or snow pelting down on their roof, what escape so often comes to mind? I would suggest a near deserted island, somewhere in the tropics, would very often be the daydream of choice! That daydream would include a white beach, with palm trees, a still sea, with tropical reef just offshore (you would have a set of goggles lying beside your beach chair), a local vendor wandering the sand pedalling exotic fruits, and probably a cane chaired beach bar a short distance away. Well daydream no more, they are out there! I’ve been to as many of them as I can find!, and I want to tell anyone who’ll listen all about them! Maybe brighten up an otherwise gloomy day, maybe set in motion a plan to get to one!

Sunset from View Point, Ko Phi Phi

So I thought I would start a series of posts on those islands. The ones that are a little lesser known, that are postcard perfect, that you wish you could move to and live on for ever! I love the heat, and when there is heat, I love a good beach, so I have spent plenty of time searching for just the right spot for me to chill!

Most of my travel has been throughout South East Asia, Australia and the South Pacific, and Central Asia, so I have visited my fair share of these hidden tropical island escapes! Of course, there are tropical island escapes in the Americas, Africa and the mediterranean, but, hey, you cant be everywhere, unfortunately!

Manukan Island, Sabah, Malaysia

I can think of islands I will cover off the coasts of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and India, as well as island nations in the South Pacific.  I remember reading somewhere that Indonesia was made up of 10,000 islands? I wonder if it would be possible to visit all of those? If anybody ever has? How many of them would be idillic beach getaways, maybe 1 in 10?, that is still 1000 tropical island paradises waiting to be visited! Now there is a challenge for someone!

The first post of the series will be Ko Ngai, a small island at the south end of the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Thailand. I will try to give some photos, as well as details on how to get there (or how I got there, at least), and the accommodation options if I can. I hope you enjoy the series, and provide some feedback. I would also love to hear about other tropical island gems that are out there, so let me know. Guest post is available in this series.