It's 6.45am, and there's a gentle tapping on the door. You might be on holiday, but on Denis Island in the Seychelles it's time to get up and go fishing.
On the beach, a dozen yards from the veranda, is Mayjoe, impatient in his Aston Villa shorts. He and the skipper, Etienne, have a lot of fish to catch and they want to get going before the pearly morning light is consumed by the heat of the tropical sun.
Three miles from shore, Etienne cuts the engine and Mayjoe helps set up the lines. A weight and five baited hooks are attached to a fine nylon rope. It's tossed overboard, unravelling to a depth of 50m, and secured in your hand. You sit back and wait for a tug on your forefinger. This comes soon and it comes often: fishing in the Indian ocean does not require a huge amount of skill. Bonito, red snapper, parrot fish, capitaine blanc, job fish, groupier, the occasional baby shark - they're all delicious and waiting to be caught. At the end of the day, there is an absurd sense of pride in seeing your fish served for dinner.
Denis Island relies on the well-stocked sea surrounding its 2 sq kms to feed its guests. Privately owned, there is nothing on the island apart from the lodge and a farm which supplies it with pork, chickens, eggs, vegetables and fruit. Everything else comes from the sea or is flown in on the 20-seater plane which lands on the 900m grass airstrip four times a week.
It is precisely this remoteness that makes Denis so special. Three degrees south of the equator and 95km from Mahe, the main island of the Seychelles, the coral atoll is the kind of place you dream of on a dreary October afternoon stuck at your desk. As the plane approaches, you can see from your window a crescent of lush green, bordered by blindingly white sand, ringed by turquoise water skimming over coral, set in the deep blue ocean. The island is rich in vegetation and, like all the Seychelles, a haven for birds.
Touchdown on the grass airstrip - used most of the time for either grazing cattle or practising golf shots - is not for the fainthearted, but once on the ground you are reassured by the friendly greeting of Denis's staff and the offer of cold towels and fresh fruit juice.
The lodge - 10 minutes walk from the airstrip - prides itself on informality, urging its guests to make themselves at home. Several things mark it out from a conventional hotel: principally the feeling that the whole island is yours for the duration of your stay. There are no locks on the doors of the 25 "cottages" scattered among the trees along the beaches - there is no need, according to the lodge, as the island's resident population of about 40 all work either at the hotel or the farm. There are no televisions, radios or phones in the rooms, and the island is just out of range for the use of mobiles. Messages from the outside world can get through, but most people don't want to be disturbed.
Richard, the Welsh barman at the lodge, had been on Denis for four weeks, having escaped from a pub in Aldershot by tracking down and securing his desert island dream on the internet. "The world could be ablaze and I'd know nothing about it," he said. He spends his freetime swimming and snorkelling.
The lodge operates only on a full-board basis - there is nowhere else to eat on the island. Breakfast and lunch are both buffets, with guests often eating barefoot. Dinner is less casual, although unlike many exclusive hotels there is no obligation to dress up. There is always a choice of three main courses including a meat option, and the food is fabulous: vodka-cured tuna; fish baked in spicy creole sauce; octopus and coconut curry, exotic fruits and home-baked bread.
Drinks are added to your bill, and you could end up with a reasonably hefty charge at the end of your stay depending on your taste: beers are cheap, cocktails expensive. But, apart from drinks, scuba-diving and deep-sea fishing, there is literally nothing on the island to spend money on. The lodge has a tiny shop, selling trin kets and a few essentials; there are shelves of books in the bar for guests to borrow; billiards, table-tennis, backgammon and chess-sets are available for those who have not quite reached the empty-minded, staring-out-to-sea, completely-chilled condition that is what Denis is really all about.
Once you have reached that state, the best place to be is on the beach. If the stretch of brilliant sand in front of your cottage is not deserted enough, you can easily find a real Robinson Crusoe experience elsewhere on the island. It takes about two hours to walk round Denis, and for most of that time you will be entirely alone among the crabs and driftwood. Take some flippers and a snorkel, and you can spend hours floating face down in the warm sea gazing at fluorescent fish darting in and out of the coral.
The cottages are generously spaced and roomy. Each has a large veranda facing the sea, a sitting area and a big bathroom with disturbing floor-to-ceiling windows and glass door leading to a tiny walled courtyard with an outdoor shower to rinse off the sand.
The average stay on Denis is nine nights, although one emotional entry in the visitors' book recorded a four-month stay. Right up until the last possible minute, you can bury your toes in the warm sand on the beach or sip an ice-cold beer at the bar. When you hear the plane's engines overhead, it's time to walk down to the airstrip to say your reluctant goodbyes.
Luxury is readily available in the Seychelles, but comes in different forms. Denis is understated and casual; the five-star Lemuria Resort on another island, Praslin, which opened earlier this year, is sophisticated and elegant. Once behind its tall gates, you need never leave. Built into granite boulders, the hotel centres round a spectacular three-level pool, and houses a golf course, spa and treatment centre, tennis courts and children's centre.
One of the loveliest beaches in the Seychelles, Anse Georgette, can be reached only by boat or through the hotel grounds. Georgette and a neighbouring beach, Anse Lazio, voted by German tourists as the most beautiful in the world, are exactly like your favourite fantasy: coconut palms bending low over pristine sands, warm crystal water, a few footprints to show you are not entirely alone.
P raslin is the second largest of the Seychelles islands with about 6,000 inhabitants. Beaches and watersports aside, there is little to do or see.
At the heart of the island is the Vallée de Mai, a living remnant of prehistoric forest, now a World Heritage Site and protected by the Seychelles Islands Foundation. It is the home of the Coco de Mer, a palm which for many years was thought to grow under the sea until it was discovered here. The trees reach 30m, and produce the largest seed in the world, weighing up to 20kg.
The valley is also the home to the black parrot, only found on Praslin. Entrance to the site is about £5.50, and for the same price you can hire a private guide to point out and explain the extraordinary palms, plants, birds, lizards and spiders.
Back at the hotel, there are endless permutations of eating and drinking. Three excellent restaurants, including one situated on the beach; extensive room service; sandwiches and drinks can be brought to you by the pool. Apart from breakfast,everything - including drinking water, which is only available from the mini-bar in the room - is added to your final bill.
The service is discreet and efficient. At about 6.30pm, just as darkness is about to drop like a heavy curtain, a man glides into your elegantly-decorated and enormous room, bearing a flute of champagne and a single canapé on a porcelain plate. You take it out onto your terrace or balcony, feeling the weight of the velvety tropical night in sharp contrast to the air-conditioned luxury of your room.
Maybe the meek will inherit the earth, but in the meantime paradise is yours if you can afford it.
The practicals
Harriet Sherwood travelled with Abercrombie & Kent/Air Seychelles. The package, from £2,388 per person based on two sharing, features four nights on Denis Island in a cottage on a full-board basis and four nights bed & breakfast in a Junior suite at Lemuria Resort on Praslin. Abercrombie & Kent 0845 0700611, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk. Air Seychelles (01293 596 656) flies two times a week from Gatwick.
