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The best deserted beaches: readers' tips

The winning beach on Big Corn Island in Nicaragua - Jane Sweeney / AWL Images Ltd
The winning beach on Big Corn Island in Nicaragua - Jane Sweeney / AWL Images Ltd

This week's winning letter

Solitude in Nicaragua 

On Big Corn Island, located off Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, there are two forms of public transport: taxis that will take you anywhere on the island for 20 córdoba (50p) or a single bus that drives a continuous clockwise loop and costs just 10 córdoba. 

Either mode of transport will deliver you to South West Bay, where the only other visitors to the beach were a squadron of pelicans skimming and dive-bombing the rolling waves, looking for breakfast.

At the nearby Hotel Arena (arenasbeachhotel.com), a fee of $10 per person – paid at the reception desk – gives you full use of the hotel’s facilities and entitles you to run up a $10 tab at the bar/restaurant. 

During our stay, we were on the beach at 11am and off it at 4pm – and the hardest work we did all day was to summon the bored but very helpful waiter to bring us another cocktail. We were, after all, his only customers.

Martha Rose Watson, from London, wins a £300 accommodation voucher with Hotel de France

A Scottish bay for surfers, riders and ramblers

On the east coast of Scotland, on the A92 between Arbroath and Montrose, is a beautiful and isolated beach called Lunan Bay. The sand is very clean, and often you will find you are the only one on the beach. 

Lunan Bay is backed by sand dunes and low cliffs to the north and south, and the 12th-century ruin of Red Castle overlooks it. The beach is popular with ramblers, dog walkers, surfers, bird watchers and horse riders. Fishing is still practised here with nets strung on poles dug into the sand to trap fish in the receding tide. It can be fairly windy, resulting in a bracing walk – but you come away invigorated by the fresh sea air. 

This is a place with something for everybody. Even better, there are no eating facilities, so everyone brings a picnic. The beach itself can easily be reached via the car park at its rear.

Audrey Clark, Dundee 

An emerald-green lake all to ourselves in Vermont

In the summer of 1988, we drove with two small children from Washington DC to Bar Harbor in Maine via New York and Boston, then back through New Hampshire and Vermont. We stopped at Hammonasset Beach in Connecticut and, in Maine, at Ogunquit Beach where we ate lobster bought at the roadside. These beaches are very popular, so we weren’t alone. 

A few days later, while returning via Mount Washington, we turned off Route 7 in southern Vermont and into a state park through woodland to find a lake with clear, emerald-green water and a beautiful little sandy beach. To our amazement, no one else was there. Nor did anyone turn up during the whole of our barbecue lunch, or afterwards as the children swam and built sand castles. It was the perfect spot for us.

Malcolm Watson, Berkshire

Scuba diving is now popular in Lombok - Credit: © Mike Veitch / Alamy Stock Photo/Mike Veitch / Alamy Stock Photo
Scuba diving is now popular in Lombok Credit: © Mike Veitch / Alamy Stock Photo/Mike Veitch / Alamy Stock Photo

Recalling an undisturbed corner of Lombok

In Lombok, Indonesia, in the Seventies we passed through a tiny hamlet of mud huts to discover the beach of our dreams. We gasped as we sat and absorbed the sheer beauty and extent of the silver sands that followed the curve of the bay into the distance. The sea lapped gently on the undisturbed shoreline. There were no footprints, no animals and no humans as far as the eye could see – not even surfers.

But the future depended on progress. Our courier had talked of plans for developers to line the beach with hotels. How could they destroy such an idyllic location?

Our thoughts turned to the mud huts and their occupants. The floors were built on hardened cow dung, there was no lighting or water and little opportunity to work. Perhaps there could be a happy solution if the developments brought the services required to this part of the world. 

Arthur Allwright, Kent

White sand and wonderful wildlife in Costa Rica

The most magical, perfect and serene beach we have ever found is on the northernmost Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It is called Playa Pan de Azucar, or Sugar Beach, and is heavenly at dusk, when the setting sun is directly over the sea. We found the Sugar Beach Hotel just after a hurricane had wreaked havoc in Costa Rica, with roads damaged and washed away.

Despite this, we made our way there and enjoyed a week of magical peace and privacy. The beach is made up of fine white sand, the sea is warm, the hotel is superb and the surrounding area is fascinating and teeming with wildlife. What more could one want?

William Croxson, Surrey

Memories of quieter days in Sixties Skiathos 

In the Sixties, when I was a student, my cousin used to lend me his villa on the lovely island of Skiathos in Greece. It is well known for its mile-long sandy beach called Koukounaries, which has been listed as one of the best 10 beaches in the world. It has wonderful white sand, crystal-clear water and is backed by pine trees.

I’m told it is now very noisy and so crowded that you have to step over sunbathing bodies. On our visits, it was always empty, except on one occasion when there was one other couple. There were no water sports or sun beds, just a small tavern – and were they pleased to see us!

It was mind-blowing to have such a magnificent beach all to ourselves.

Tim Le Blanc-Smith, London

A fjord in Oman - Credit: Cristian Andriana/Cristian Andriana
A fjord in Oman Credit: Cristian Andriana/Cristian Andriana

Taking a boat to a deserted beach in Oman

We found a beach of our own in Oman, about 15 miles south of Muscat, when I was working there in 1970-71. My colleague Tony and I had the use of a Boston whaler dory with a 40hp outboard engine, which we took out on a Friday – the Muslim weekend. 

We set off for what appeared to be a bay, which we’d found on the map. On the way the sea was flat calm, and once there we discovered there was a deserted village. Swimming and water skiing round the island was superb, but it was hot. In the summer, it could reach 42C in the shade, so we took plenty of drinks. The beach, which we knew as Bandar Jissah, was totally deserted, though I recently read in a holiday brochure that there are hotels there now. Such is life.

Michael Ogden, Wiltshire

Just a seal for company in the heavenly Hebrides

Camping on the northern tip of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, we looked out on to a deserted beach on a wonderful sunny day when it was like the Caribbean. At low tide, the white sand stretched forever, and at high tide it was covered by clear azure sea.

From our sheltered corner, we risked a bracing swim and up popped the head of an inquisitive seal – wondering, no doubt, who else was sharing this glorious isolation.

Geoff Worrall, Somerset

Cooking fish over a fire on a Greek island

Several years ago we visited a small Greek island which had only one village, a harbour and two beaches – both with sun loungers and tavernas. However, a bit of effort and a difficult half-hour walk took us to a small and completely deserted beach.

We packed our rucksacks with the usual beach necessities of towels, masks, snorkels and books, together with plates, cutlery, bread, wine, salad, barbecue tools and fish bought from the local fishermen in the morning. On arrival, the first thing we did was take a dip to cool off, and afterwards we built a small fire. 

When the fire was ready, the fish  were barbecued and served with the bread, salad and wine. Never has a meal tasted so good! 

Several blissful hours later, we staggered back over the hill to our villa in the village.

Babs Philpott, Hertfordshire

Do you have memories of Africa that go beyond the classic wildlife experience? They might include the magnificent landscape, beaches, ancient art, food and wine or encounters with local people. The reader who sends in the best entry will win a £300 discount on a stay at Hotel de France.