Lizard Island Resort

Lizard Island lies in the far northern Great Barrier Reef, 240 kilometres above Cairns and reached only by light aircraft. The resort is the island's sole occupant — there is no town, no ferry terminal and no day-trip traffic — sharing the rest of the granite-and-rainforest island with a national park and a research station.

Around forty suites and villas are spread along the shore, with the best carrying private plunge pools and uninterrupted ocean outlook. Between them lie twenty-four separate white-sand beaches, and the resort's standing arrangement is the definition of the place: take a motorised dinghy and a picnic hamper, pick a beach, and have it entirely to yourself for the day.

The reef comes right to the sand, so fringing coral is snorkellable straight off the beach, and the outer reef and Cod Hole — one of the most famous dive sites in Australia — are a boat ride away. Rates are all-inclusive of meals, most drinks, dinghies, snorkelling gear and paddleboards, with a day spa and a kitchen that leans on North Queensland seafood.