Winner: South Water Caye, Belize
There are hundreds of beautiful cayes along Belize鈥檚 Caribbean coast. Our pick is South 颅Water Caye, east of Dangriga鈥攁 15-acre island inside the country鈥檚 largest marine reserve. You can paddle the shoreline, snorkel at night, and, if you鈥檙e lucky, dive with whale sharks off a nearby atoll. The Pelican Beach Resort is one of just three on the island and has eight sandy cottages, four 颅kayaks, and a sister property on the mainland鈥攚hich makes transfers easy (from $369; ).
Runner-Up: Tikehau Atoll, Tahiti
Sometimes called the Pink Sand Island because of the color of its shores, Tikehau isn鈥檛 a beach so much as a ring of them鈥攁 Tahitian atoll in the Tuamotu Islands with a 180-square-mile lagoon twinkling in the middle. The choicest views are from the 24-suite, 13-bungalow Pearl Beach Resort on the southern end of the atoll (from $626 per night; ). Fly directly from Tahiti鈥檚 Fa鈥檃鈥檃 airport, then rent an overwater bungalow with a glass floor panel and watch angelfish swim past.