Best Bed: It does have the Pink Sands hotel, where you can walk barefoot from your bed to the beach every morning for a pre-breakfast swim (242-333-2030; islandoutpost.com; doubles, $600–$700).

BRAZIL
Lopes Mendes, Ilha Grande
Safe swimming, No crowds, Natural shade

Ilha Grande is just one of the 350-plus islands off Angra dos Reis, south of Rio.

Wow Factor: Its 22 beaches of soft white sand, however, make it the most alluring. And Lopes Mendes, with almost every one of its elements in just the right proportion, is the finest of the 22.

Best Bed: Visitors so unfortunate as not to be sleeping aboard a yacht can find simple accommodations at Sagu Mini Resort, overlooking a rocky cove (55-24-3361-5660; saguresort.com; doubles, $127–$157).

Fair Warning: It can get crowded from December through February.

COOK ISLANDS
One Foot Island, Aitutaki
Safe swimming, No crowds, Natural shade

This tiny uninhabited mote is one of the most photographed islets in the South Pacific, no doubt because it is everybody's idea of what their island would look like if they were Robinson Crusoe—white sand, bending palm trees, azure water.

Wow Factor: The wide lagoon is so shallow you can walk to the next island at low tide.

Best Bed: The two-year-old, eight-bungalow Etu Moana is right on the beach (682-31458; etumoana.com; doubles, $313–$350).

Fair Warning: Too many day-trippers.

FIJI
Vatulele Island
Safe swimming, No crowds, Hotel, Natural shade

From the moment you step barefoot out of the seaplane and wade ashore, you have no desire to wear shoes again until someone makes you get back on the plane—the half-mile stretch of sand is that soft.

Wow Factor: With the resort's sunset-facing bures strung along the beach, there's just one reason to wander away from the tide line: the excellent wine list.

Best Bed: The bures are well spaced: Nos. 1 through 9 flank the Main Bure; 10 through 17 are a secluded walk away (679-672-0300; vatulele.com; doubles, $1,386, all-inclusive).

Bonus: Vatulele is a real Fijian island, with four villages and coconut and taro farming.

GERMANY
Sylt, Schleswig-Holstein
Safe swimming, No crowds, Hotel, Natural shade

This quaint island resort has no fewer than 20 miles of sand dunes and its very own style of beach furniture, a three-seater basket that serves both as a windbreak and a territorial marker.