15 amazing Indian Ocean holidays to escape the winter gloom

Get your dose of winter sun in some of the world’s most spectacular destinations with these trips, from Bali and the Maldives to Zanzibar

Hammocks strung between coconut palms above silky white beaches. Strolling into bath-warm water in shades of blue you didn’t know existed. Bronzing in temperatures that rarely dip below 28C no matter the time of year. There are few destinations more alluring than the Indian Ocean, particularly when the dark nights roll in at home. 
With its glamorous resorts, astonishing marine life and celebrity clientele, the Maldives remains the region’s best known and most popular destination. Other hot spots that might spring to mind are the boulder-strewn, turtle-speckled beaches of the Seychelles; the rolling mountains and wild beaches of Mauritius, and Sri Lanka’s natural and cultural highs. But there’s so much more to see. 
The world’s third-largest ocean stretches from the east coast of Africa to the Arabian peninsula, to equatorial Indonesia and the chillier climes of the sub-Antarctic Desolation Islands, with dozens of lesser-visited destinations in between. Striking up some winter sun inspiration, here is our pick of the best holidays in the Indian Ocean over the next year. 
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Indonesia
Mauritius
Madagascar
The Maldives
Mozambique
Oman
Rodrigues
The Seychelles
Sri Lanka
Zanzibar
From jasmine-scented massages to water blessings and island-wide days of silence, few destinations can compete with Bali when it comes to a wellness holiday. While there are several health retreats scattered around the Ubud countryside, the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay has an Indian Ocean setting in the south of the island, as well as its own Healing Village. Dip into energy healing, fire yoga and moonlit meditation, or arrange a bespoke programme, complete with private fitness classes and nutritious cuisine.       
Abercrombie & Kent (03301 621839; abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers seven nights at the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay from £3,300, B&B, including flights and private transfers. 
Unlike the countries of the Caribbean or Mediterranean, Indian Ocean nations aren’t exactly easy to hop around. One way to visit more than one destination is on Audley Travel’s new 27-day land and sea tour, which includes four nights within a private Maasai Mara conservancy and a 16-night cruise between Cape Town and Mauritius. There’s plenty of action in between, including sunset strolls under Madagascar’s baobab trees, a glass-bottom boat trip in the Comoros Islands, and a spice tour in St Louis, Mauritius.  
Audley Travel (01993 461518; audleytravel.com) offers a 27-day Masai Mara & South Africa with Madagascar cruise, costing from £17,090, including 16 nights full-board with Regent Seven Seas, nine nights’ accommodation, flights, transfers and excursions. 
Rainbow-coloured sand dunes, tumbling waterfalls, tortoises as big as ponies, secret sugar mills and fortresses as climbing frames – the island of Mauritius might have been designed precisely with children in mind. Then there’s the beaches, miles and miles of golden sands and cerulean ocean offering a seemingly endless array of aqua-based activities, from banana boats to kayaking to scuba diving lessons. For more than a standard kids’ club, stay at the recently refurbished Lux Belle Mare, which has interconnected beach hut-style villas, kiteboard competitions and an augmented reality studio. 
A seven-night stay at Lux Belle Mare with Scott Dunn (020 8682 5060; scottdunn.com) costs from £5,575 B&B, based on a family of four staying in a Junior Suite, including flights and private transfers.
If you’re one of a growing band of holidaymakers who base their travel plans around food, look no farther than the island of Mauritius, where Indian, African, Chinese, south-east Asian and French cultures have all shaped the local cuisine. Signature dishes include: gateaux piments, fiery little chilli fritters; fish vindaye, a tangy curry made with mustard, turmeric, onions and garlic; and boulettes, steamed dumplings stuffed with shrimp, squid, lamb or pumpkin, floating in a hot vegetable noodle broth. As part of a top-to-toe refurbishment, the Shangri-La Le Touessrok has added two new restaurants, which make as good a starting point as any for a culinary getaway.   
Inspiring Travel (01244 729525; inspiringtravel.co.uk) has seven nights in one of Shangri-La Touessrok’s Coral Ocean View rooms from £2,635, B&B, including flights and private transfers.
Madagascar has some of the world’s coolest animals; cartoonish creatures such as the Beetlejuice-worthy black lemur, the puffy white silky sifaka and peachy coua birds, which don’t exist anywhere else on earth. Now, they’re being joined by some of the world’s coolest hotels, including the Voaara, a nine-villa eco-luxury hideaway on the island of Sainte-Marie, off the north-east of Madagascar. Check in between June and October and you can also catch sight of humpback whales on the migration trail. 
Lightfoot Travel (020 3950 5105; lightfoottravel.com) has a luxurious nine-night Wildlife and Ocean in Madagascar package from £5,900, including stays at Maison Gallieni (B&B), Anjajavay Le Lodge and private island Vooara (both on an all-inclusive basis). International flights, transfers and excursions are also included. 
The Maldives is home to the most biodiverse waters in the world; 16ft-long whale sharks, mini-bus big manta rays, 3ft-wide stingrays, 23 varieties of cetaceans, five out of seven types of sea turtles, as well as more than 1,100 fish species and 180 different corals. Not every species can be found on every atoll, but you’ll find most of the big pelagics in the Alifu Dhaalu, a favourite spot with divers. Stay at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort, which has manta rays dancing in the house reef and an incredible underwater suite. 
Stay seven nights in an overwater villa at the Conrad Rangali from £3,100, B&B, with Wix Squared (020 3808 6383; wixsquared.com), including international flights and seaplane transfers. 
With its one island, one resort policy, extravagant villas, perfect white sand beaches, soaring coconut palms and Tiffany blue waters, nowhere does glamour quite like the Maldives. Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Justin Bieber and Stanley Tucci trip over themselves to stay at Soneva Fushi in the Baa Atoll and Soneva Jani in Noonu, and now they’ve got a new haunt: Soneva Secret. The only resort to grace the northern Makunudhoo, it has just 14 supersized villas, including a one-of-a-kind floating villa that can be moved around the reef, all with waterslides, private chefs and retractable roofs for stargazing.    
Elegant Resorts (01244 897581; elegantresorts.co.uk) has seven nights staying in a Beach Hideaway Villa at Soneva Secret from £20,185 B&B, including return flights from London with Virgin Atlantic, UK lounge passes and seaplane transfers. 
Much of Mozambique’s beachside appeal is that it remains relatively undiscovered, particularly when it comes to what lies below the surface. Get in on the exploration onboard Pelorus’s new and exclusive Marine Marvels tour, which allows guests to join renowned scientists charting waters, tagging apex reef predators, and collecting whale and dolphin DNA. The expedition forms part of Indocet’s conservation research of migratory whale patterns, while downtime includes diving to shipwrecks, kayaking through mangroves and picnicking on remote sandbanks. 
Pelorus Travel (020 3848 5424; pelorusx.com) specialises in transformative journeys and has a seven-night Marine Marvels in Mozambique group tour from £18,000 full-board, staying at Colina Verde, an exclusive-use beach villa located on the Machangulo Peninsula in southern Mozambique. 
For centuries the Sultanate of Oman was a pivotal part of the maritime Silk Routes, thanks to a prime position flanked between the eastern coast of the Arabian peninsula and the vast Indian Ocean. Visit Muscat’s mosaic-clad mosques, ancient buildings and fragrant souks before bobbing over to nearby Masirah Island to ogle leatherback turtles. Next, head south to the beaches of Salalah, where you’ll find silken white sands and calm, luminous blue waters alive with kelp forests, soft corals, reef fish, rays and nudibranch. 
Bushbaby (0845 124 4455; bushbaby.travel.com) offers a seven-night trip to Oman from £2,090 B&B, including four nights at Al Bustan Palace, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel and three nights at the Ananatara Al Baleed, as well as international flights and private transfers.  
This tiny volcanic island is located 600km (375 miles) off the east coast of Mauritius, of which it is a dependent state. One of the least visited places in the Indian Ocean, Rodrigues feels like the land that time forgot, all sleepy fishing villages, hammocks strung between palm trees and seemingly endless empty white beaches. The food is delicious – octopus salad, sausage rougaille, pork curry, papaya pie – and eco-tourism is in bloom, with a network of hiking trails and conservation programmes to restore native trees and tortoise populations. 
Love to Explore (020 8050 8501; lovetoexplore.com) offers eight nights in Mauritius and Rodrigues from £2,600 including international flights, domestic flights, transfers, staying half-board at Constance Tekoma Rodrigues and all-inclusive at C Mauritius. 
A speck of land located 400km (250 miles) south of Mahé, seven degrees south of the Equator, Alphonse Island is a magnet for rare migratory birds and an oasis for Giant Aldabra tortoises and hawksbill turtles, which breed around its calico shores. One of the most remote spots on earth remains virtually untouched, with just one hotel – Alphonse Island Resort – which has 29 bungalows, suites and villas, and a restaurant serving locally sourced Creole cuisine. At the watersports centre, you can pick up a kayak and explore the island’s pristine shoreline, fish-filled lagoons and hypnotic sea flats. 
Seven nights on Alphonse Island costs from £6,166 full-board, with Aardvark Safaris (01980 849160; aardvarksafaris.com), including flights, transfers and activities. 
The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 granite and coralline islands, enveloped by buttery boulder-flecked beaches, crystalline lagoons and luxuriant greenery. Throw in the local Creole culture and a wealth of endemic species, and it’s about as close to paradise as you can get. The most popular islands – Mahé, Praslin and La Digue – are handily connected by cheap and efficient ferry services, allowing visitors to glide easily between colonial-era towns, tortoise reserves, rum distilleries, dive sites and national parks on one trip. 
Indian Ocean experts Kuoni (0800 092 4444; kuoni.co.uk) offers seven nights island hopping between Mahé, Praslin and La Digue from £1,996, B&B, including boutique hotel accommodation and transfers. International flights are extra.
Noodley, traffic-logged roads and single supplements on accommodation can make Sri Lanka’s abundance of attractions – tea plantations, rural villages, heritage train rides, rambling safaris, ancient citadels, incense-bathed temples and thumping cities – difficult to tackle when flying solo. Happily, Distant Journeys has introduced a new small group tour that consists of no more than 20 travellers, with stays in charming boutique hotels and no pesky single-supplement fees. Highlights include a walking food tour in Colombo, climbing the pink rock fortress of Sigiriya, and elephant-spotting in Minneriya National Park.  
Distant Journeys (0808 501 7247; distantjourneys.co.uk) offers a 14-day Treasures of Sri Lanka tour from £3,995, including 13 nights’ accommodation, breakfast and various meals, plus experiences.
Much of Sri Lanka’s far north was off limits during the country’s devastating 26-year-long civil war, before achieving peace and reopening in 2009. A return to tourism, however, has proved to be slow work, which means intrepid travellers can soak up a part of the country that still feels undiscovered. Visit Wilpattu National Park to see elephants, crocodiles and leopards (without the crowds); count your blessings at Mihintale and Anuradhapura, believed to be the birthplace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka; journey to ancient Jaffna by train, before flopping on Trincomalee’s peaceful platinum beaches.   
Spend 17 nights traversing northern Sri Lanka with Bamboo Travel (020 7720 9285; bambootravel.co.uk) from £3,750, B&B, including flights, transfers and excursions. 
The Zanzibar Channel, which streams between Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania in the western Indian Ocean, turns into a humpback whale super-highway between July and October each year. Get up close to the 40-ton giants at the newly revamped AndBeyond Mnemba Island resort, where 12 seashell-shaped beach villas – including one large family villa – face directly out to sea. Working to conserve the island’s unique ecosystem, guests can take part in coral reef restoration and turtle hatchling monitoring (in between swims, sunbathing and snorkelling). 
The Ultimate Travel Company (0203 811 6601; theultimatetravelcompany.com) offers six nights at AndBeyond Mnemba Island from £8,865 all-inclusive, including flights with Qatar Airways and domestic transfers.