Photographs by Marshall Katzman and Susan Manlin Katzman

Love and islands have been entwined since the beginning of romantic history. The liaison dates at least to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love who was born, fully formed, from the sea. She immediately took up residency on the nearest island to work her magic.

Islands and love are made for each other. The question is, which island suits which couple? Some islands are lush with flowers and thick with jungle vegetation, others dry and dusty as a desert; some are mountainous, others flat as the sea; some are densely populated, others almost deserted. No one island fits every romantic fantasy, and not all lovers are going to love every island, which is precisely why we are doing a little matchmaking here.

Love means never having to say you’re sorry, so research an island carefully before saying “I do” to a stay. Each island offers a different experience at different times of the year. Check weather patterns to gauge when, and how intrusive, might be the rainy, cold, hurricane or too-darned-hot season. Also, on many of the best islands, stays may be horrendously expensive, but different seasons often bring price breaks, as do purchased packages that combine air, resort and activities.

Finally, ask about romantic perks. Many resorts give honeymooners or anniversary celebrants valentines in the form of upgraded rooms, champagne or discounts on romantic activities, so be sure to notify them, in advance of arrival, that love is in the air.


Anguilla: Where Everything is Easy
Anguilla could be nicknamed the “movie-star island.” More stars land on its shores than shine in its night skies, although at first glance it’s hard to understand the attraction. The introductory drive in blinding-bright sun on heat-baked roads from the airport or ferry reveals little more than flat land with scrubby brush, free-ranging goats and the occasional salt pond. Check into your room, shed your city mentality and start exploring.

A British overseas territory in the eastern Caribbean (the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles), Anguilla is only 16 miles long and 3 miles wide at its widest point, with 33 luscious white-sand beaches edging into brilliant blue sea. Accommodations range from intimate inns to world-class resorts, and 77 restaurants earn Anguilla the title “gourmet capital of the Caribbean.”

The Valley, Anguilla’s main town, sits in the center, and the small communities Anguillians call “villages” are spread over the island, so it’s best to rent a car. You drive on the left side of the road, but speed limits are low and there’s little traffic, so it’s easy.

Actually, everything about Anguilla is easy. English is the spoken language. Although the eastern-Caribbean dollar is the local currency, U.S. dollars are widely accepted. No sightseeing pressures interfere with relaxation, and the whole island radiates a spirit of laid-back vacationing.

In Anguilla, the beach is not just for lounging; it’s also for eating, drinking and dancing. Locals head to Johnno’s Beach Stop on Friday nights for drinking and dancing to live soca and calypso. Gorgeous Scilly Cay, an open-air restaurant/bar on its own island, attracts the Sunday-afternoon crowds with strong rum punch, grilled lobster and dancing to the tunes of a local string band.

The upshot: Stay in a fabulous resort (Cap Juluca, with its Moorish architecture, is ultra-romantic), hang out on an idyllic beach (take your pick from the 12 miles of shoreline), eat, drink and be happy.
How to get there: American Airlines, Continental, Delta, and US Airways fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there, American Eagle and LIAT fly to Anguilla. US Airways and Delta serve St. Maarten, the Dutch portion of the dual-nationality island that acts as an airport hub for this part of the Caribbean. Ferries to and from Anguilla run throughout the day from the French portion of the island, St. Martin.

For more information, visit www.anguilla-vacation.com or call 800-553-4939.


Lanai: For a Romantic Rendezvous
Lanai is far away and hard to reach. Measuring 18 miles long and 13 wide, it is one of the smallest tourist islands in the Hawaiian archipelago and also the quietest. Once a pineapple plantation, the island is still more than 95 percent privately owned and still sparsely developed. Today, Lanai spurns the pineapples and devotes itself exclusively to tourism.

This is the island where multibillionaire privacy-seeker Bill Gates was married. This is the island that has only one teeny-tiny slip of a town, 3,000 inhabitants, one old 11-room hotel and two sumptuous resorts. Here is an island that is cultivated and manicured yet remote, intimate and wildly beautiful, making it the perfect hideaway for an affluent couple’s private romantic rendezvous.

Both resorts recently came under Four Seasons management. And although they offer different types of accommodations and different perspectives of Hawaii, they are almost treated as one unit; guests of one may freely participate in the other’s activities.

The Lodge at Koele, with 102 rooms, is situated in the Hawaiian upcountry, where the misty mountain air is cool and the forest thick with pine, ironwood and eucalyptus trees. With its dark woods, fine art and large public rooms, the Lodge resembles an old English manor house. Reinforcing the “aristocracy at play in the country” image are such classic activities as horseback riding, hunting, clay shooting, lawn bowling and spectacular golf (the Experience at Koele).

About eight miles from the Lodge—and at the other end of the vacation spectrum—the Four Seasons Resorts Lanai at Manele Bay fulfills every fantasy of a perfect island beach resort. Overlooking Lanai’s prettiest beach and a blue stretch of the Pacific where Spinner dolphins meet and mate, the resort’s 21 suites and 215 guest rooms meander around a series of gardens filled with swaying palms, fragrant flowers andflowing water. Activ-ities include beach and pool lounging, snorkeling, scuba, sport fishing, tennis, spa and top-flight golf (the Challenge at Manele).

Shuttle buses run between the resorts, stopping in Lanai City for guests who want to shop or sample a few of the local restaurants, such as Henry Clay’s Rotisserie (fabulous shrimp appetizer) or the supercasual Blue Ginger Café (good breakfast and Hawaiian plate-lunch specials).

Only 30 miles of Lanai’s roads are paved, but couples who want to explore the island can rent four-wheel drive vehicles from the island’s only auto-rental agency.

The upshot: Lanai epitomizes the legendary aloha spirit of hospitality. From the moment a fragrant plumeria lei is slipped over your head in greeting, you’ll be collecting memories of coconut palms and towering pines, misty sunrises and night skies illuminated by a million glowing stars.
How to get there: Most major airlines fly from St. Louis to Honolulu, connecting through various cities. Island Air and Hawaiian Airlines fly into Lanai from Honolulu. Ferries transport passengers between Maui and Lanai.

For more information, visit www.visitlanai.net.


Turks and Caicos: The Obvious Honeymoon
Close your eyes and imagine the scene. Soft trade winds cool the air, circulating the scents of sea salt and garden flowers. Sunshine spotlights the bridal-white beaches and makes the sea shimmer like diamonds. However you indulge—be it breakfasting in bed, sunbathing on a silky beach, toasting the sunset or dining under night skies lit by the stars—you will be encased in natural beauty.

Search from sea to shining sea; you won’t find an archipelago as lovely as the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI). The beauty will endure: TCI has put more of its land in a protected National Parks system than, by proportion, any other country in the world. But it’s not just the setting that makes TCI perfect for honeymooners.

Like the couple formed when two individuals wed, Turks & Caicos, which is located in the Atlantic southeast of Miami, is actually two island systems separated by a 22-mile-wide body of water. Of the fortysomething islands in the archipelago, only eight are inhabited.

Natives (called “Belongers”) say that Columbus discovered the islands in 1492, which is hard to believe—why would he leave? Today, TCI falls under British rule, with English the official language and the U.S. dollar the official currency.

Providenciales (“Provo” to locals) is the undisputed destination island, with the best restaurants, the most services and the widest choice of accommodations, from long-established hotels and privately owned villas to the new ultra-luxurious resorts that are opening faster than bottles of champagne at a wedding reception.

Should one need more stimulation than sunshine, sand, sea sports and resort activities, Provo sports a championship golf course as well as a conch farm open to visitors.

The country’s capitol, Grand Turk, is known for diving. Salt Cay, a shark’s tooth-shaped island where wild donkeys roam and egrets nest in windmills left over from the long-gone salt industry, is a great place to watch the migrating humpback whales in winter months. South Caicos boasts the best bone fishing in the Caribbean. And Parrot Cay, a glorious, luxurious, private island resort, sets a stylish stage for intimacy—just ask Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who exchanged vows there.

To enter the country you’ll need a passport or birth certificate and photo ID. The bad news: You’ll also need a return ticket.

How to get there: American Airlines, Delta and US Airways fly from St. Louis to Providenciales, connecting through various cities. A number of local carriers provide inter-island service.

For more information, visit www.turksandcaicostourism.com or call 800-241-0824.


Packing for Sardinia
For anniversary celebrations, “romantic island” sometimes translates into one the entire family will love, and everyone in the family will adore Sardinia, mainly because it has the quintessential perfect-for-all-ages resort, Forte Village.

Granted, Sardinia is quite a distance to travel. In 1921, D.H. Lawrence described it as “lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere.” Actually, the island has belonged to many conquerors since its beginnings, but today Sardinia is an autonomous region of Italy. Italian is the official language, the euro the official currency.

Sardinia’s central corridor is wild and sparsely inhabited and the north serves as an enclave for the fabulously rich, so the southern part of the island holds most interest for the majority of tourists. Main sites of the south include the island’s largest city and capital, Cagliari, a dark and ancient metropolis worth exploring; Nora, a famed site of Roman and Carthaginian ruins; and Forte Village, a one-stop resort. Spread over 55 acres of pine forest and laid out as an Italian village with walks radiating around a central piazza, the resort consists of seven four- and five-star hotels, 14 bars and 21 restaurants and cafes, all tucked amid 2,000 species of subtropical plants and flowers that serve as natural privacy walls.

Although Forte Village is molto, molto expensive, the rooms and attitude are January 2006 stlmag.com 125 more family-friendly comfortable than off puttingly plush. Still, the property has, without a doubt, the best spa in Europe, with unique thalassotherapy (seawater) pools, a healthy-foods restaurant and a menu of outstanding health and beauty treatments. Forte Village also offers golf, tennis, soccer, basketball, volleyball, squash, swimming pools, stables, bowling alleys, an ice-skating rink (yes, in summer; the resort is closed in winter) and a slew of wonderful facilities for the nursery-school crowd, including a kiddy restaurant and Mini Club.

The upshot: Add more than a mile of white sand beach along the cleanest waters in the Mediterranean to the charms of Sardinia’s Forte Village and it’s easy to understand why a couple—or an entire family—will say, “It’s amore.”
How to get there: Alitalia and Air One fly from Rome into Sardinia’s Elmas airport, which is 10 minutes from Cagliari and 45 minutes from Forte Village. Other airlines connect through a few other European cities. The resort will arrange transportation to and from the airport. Ferries link Cagliari from several ports in Italy, as well as Tunisia, but reservations are hard to secure, especially during peak season.

For more information, visit www.fortevillageresort.com or fortevillage.lemeridien.com or call 800-543-4300.