86 j u n e 2 0 1 6 / t r a v e l a n d l e i s u r e a s i a . c o m

SEARCHING OUT THAT PERFECT STRAND OF SAND AROUND ASIA DEPENDS AS MUCH UPON YOUR MOOD AS WHAT IT IS YOU WANT TO DO ON THE COASTLINE. HERE’S A SMALL SELECTION OF SOME OF THE SHORES WE’RE MOST SWEET ON, WHETHER YOU WANT TO SIMPLY TAKE IN NATURE, EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE DAY, WHILE AWAY A NIGHT OR jUST SEE AND BE SEEN.

BUCKETLIST

BEACH

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Favorite beach to Frolic with new FriendsKandolhu IslandMALDIvES

Sunrise swims are one of the great pleasures of travel in the tropics. On my first morning at Kandolhu Island, an opulent micro resort in the Maldives’ North Ari Atoll, I tiptoed out of my overwater bungalow at dawn and sunk silently into the lukewarm lagoon. Then I felt something move behind me. Afraid it could be a shark, I was happy to come face-to-face with a mature green turtle, accompanied by a smaller juvenile, who’d spent the night under my bungalow and had come to say hello. Moments later another turtle floated by—a rare hawksbill with its distinctive curved beak. I felt like I was in the middle of a David Attenborough documentary. When the reptiles moved on I paddled around the bungalow and over the Technicolor reef to the powdery white beach that rings the island. It was there I saw a shark. Actually, an entire school of them: baby whitetip reef sharks that scattered like cockroaches as I made landfall. From then on, morning swims were ruined for me forever. kandolhu.com; overwater villas from US$600 per night. – ian lloyd neubauer

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Favorite beach to eat your heart out

Negombo BeachSRI LANKA

Twenty minutes north of Colombo’s international airport, the beach

town of Negombo offers new arrivals a chance to ease into Sri Lanka

instead of crashing head-on. Negombo’s restaurateurs have risen

to the occasion, drawing on the town’s status as one of the Sri

Lanka’s oldest fishing ports to create seafood menus writ large. A riot of

giant freshwater prawns, lobster and snapper—the platter at Aria, the

poolside restaurant at the St. Lachlan hotel (stlachlanhotel.com)—

sets the benchmark. However, the garlic prawns at Scandic (4/1/A

Eththukala Rd.), an Indian-fusion joint on Browns Corner, are

unputdownable, while Tusker (83 Ethukala Rd.) next door serves a mean cashew nut and chili crab. For Mediterranean flavors with

Indian Ocean views, try the cheese straws at Dolce Vita café (27

Poruthota Rd.) or the whitefish pepper stew at Black Coral (above;

jetwinghotels.com), at Jetwing Beach resort. Come sunset, make your way to Negombo’s hectic swimming area, where food carts dish out deep-fried

seafood and vegetarian snacks drizzled with spicy sauces for a price

that far undervalues their succulence and setting.

–i.l.n.

t r a v e l a n d l e i s u r e a s i a . c o m / j u n e 2 0 1 6 89

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