1 Punta Caracol, Panama

Eight solar-powered wood-and-thatch cabanas built on stilts over the Caribbean with steps leading direct to the sea from your veranda.

£90pp per night half-board. Exsus Travel (020-7292 5050, exsus.co.uk). Puntacaracol.com.pa.

2 Slipper Island, New Zealand

On a private island off the Coromandel Peninsula you can swim off the white-sand beach and fish for snapper. Stay in one of five rustic self-catering cabins.

£69pp per night, including boat transfer from Tairua harbour. Turquoise Holidays (0870 4434177, turquoise holidays.co.uk). Slipper.co.nz.

3 Fur'n'Feathers, Australia

A small tree house camp in a 100-acre private wildlife sanctuary in the rainforest of northern Queensland.

£125pp per night, including a massage, Unusual Hotels of the World (uhotw.com).

4 The Cliff, Thailand

Twenty stylish bungalows surrounded by the towering cliffs of Krabi form this idyllic, little-known resort.

£47.30 per bungalow (valid until end Oct) through Wotif.com (0845 4584567, wotif.com/hotel10290).

5 Cape Vidal, South Africa

This cluster of raised wood cabins is set among the sand dunes of the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park, minutes from a sheltered bay on the Indian Ocean.

£60 per night for two. Rainbow Tours (020-7226 1004, <a href="http://www.rainbowtours.co.uk). kznwildlife.com/capevidal_dest.htm.