, Bermuda

If you find yourself on Bermuda's Horseshoe Bay you'll be thinking pink in no time. And if you get a cabana on 9 Beaches' Paradise Pier, the view in one direction is aquamarine water, while the other vista is of Bermuda's famous candy-pink sand. Cambridge Beaches in the Bahamas also has two lovely pink sand beaches. Plus special offerings like the "Sensual Journey" beachfront spa package that make the view even rosier.

© Mark Huntley/Alamy

Whitehaven Inlet, Australia

White is bright: You’ll find some of the finest and whitest silica sand on Earth on this luscious Aussie beach. It's located on Whitsunday Island near the Great Barrier Reef and stretches for 4.3 miles.

© Photo Resource Hawaii/Alamy

Kaihalulu Beach, Maui, Hawaii

Unofficially known as Red Sand Beach, Kaihalulu Beach (above) is one of the world’s rare red sand expanses. Of the color red, Hawaii-based color therapist Peri Enkin says, "Find your fire—your passion life"

© Antigua & Barbuda Dept. of Tourism

Barbuda

Barbuda’s smooth coastline is ringed by long pink and white sand beaches protected by barrier reefs. The pristine pink beaches of the southwestern shore stretch for ten miles without interruption. Says color therapist Peri Enkin, "Pink will unlock inner peace and tranquility" while the aquamarine-colored water "will unleash your creativity."

© Jim Schwabel/photolibrary

Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, Calif.

Travel north on Highway 1 from Cambria and you'll get to Big Sur's Pfeiffer Beach, where crushed manganese garnets lend the sand a purplish/mauvish hue. "Purple is the color of the crown chakra at the top of the head," says color therapost Peri Enkin,"so this beach would bring out knowledge and wisdom."

© Peter French/photolibrary

Kau, Mahana Bay, Big Island, Hawaii

Groovy! This is a rare green sand beach. Says Peri Enkin, color therapist, "The moss green chakra relates to below the feet. At this beach you could really become grounded in your physical life. However, emerald green relates to the heart—so the tiny deep green crystals in the sand may spark love, compassion and care."

© istockphoto.com/Jay Spooner

Waianapanapa State Park

, Maui, Hawaii

The black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park is just off the Hana Highway on Maui. "Let go of your past, release, transform and find a new beginning on these volcanic sands," says color therapist Peri Enkin.

At 1,800 acres, Peter Island, just five miles from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, is the big daddy of our list. And, in this case, size does matter: Despite hosting more than 100 guests at a time along with boatloads of day trippers, "it's just big enough that you can carve out your own area," says Thomas Kohnstamm of Lonely Planet. One reason this was our critics' top pick: the brand-new 10,000-square-foot spa with its own pool. Other amenities include tennis courts, mountain bikes, and a fleet of sailboats.

For more information: Peter Island

With just 22 stone cottages scattered across 113 acres -- and the bespoke flag communication system -- Petit St. Vincent promises a complete removal from the outside world (nary a TV or phone in sight). "You're basically paying to be left alone here," said Doug Stallings of Fodor's. Our panel, who rated this second along with Jumby Bay, repeatedly cited the lack of pretension and attitude at the resort, which was designed and built nearly 40 years ago by a husband and wife who still live on site.

For more information: Petit St. Vincent

Since 2002, luxury chain Rosewood has managed the 50 suites and villas -- including 11 with their own plunge pools -- of this 300-acre island, which tied with Petit St. Vincent for second place. Because it's just seven minutes by boat from mainland Antigua, the resort feels less remote than other picks on our list. According to Terry McCabe of Altour, Jumby Bay is ideal for those "who want to be away but still want the ability to turn on CNN." With no minimum-age requirement (unusual for private islands) and a well-run nanny program, it's also ideal for families.

For more information: Jumby Bay Resort

If you and your 14 closest friends are good for $30,000 a night, this 45-acre island in the British Virgin Islands is all yours. "This is the island that everyone aspires to," says Doug Stallings of Fodor's, citing one reason that Necker, owned by Richard Branson, ranked third on our list. Two weeks a year, the island rents out its lavish Balinese lodging to individual couples (for a tidy $22,000 per couple per week); otherwise, the island is only available to groups.

For more information: Necker Island

Although just 135 acres, this island in the Grenadines has five private beaches and 37 guest rooms that were remodeled in 2000. The Tobago Cays National Marine Park, which offers some of the best diving in the Caribbean, is a quick boat ride away. Part of the allure of this speck of an island, which earned the fourth spot on our list, is undoubtedly its best-kept-secret status: According to Thomas Kohnstamm of Lonely Planet, "Even people who have heard of the Grenadine Islands still haven't heard of Palm Island."

For more information: Palm Island

"This place gets movie stars," says Doug Stallings of Fodor's. Indeed, Paul McCartney, Jerry Seinfeld and Raquel Welch have all vacationed at this 60-room resort styled in white with chic teak accents. Bruce Willis even owns a compound here. A Como Resort property, with tastemaker Christina Ong at the design helm, the property recently doubled its spa in size and has been winning awards for its yoga classes.

For more information: Parrot Cay

Johnny Depp and his crew bedded down here while filming Pirates of the Caribbean, squarely placing this 35-acre island on the map. But its fine sand beach, which earned high marks from our panel, was already considered the prettiest in the Grenadines. Thirty cottages are tucked into lush hillsides of hibiscus, ferns and flamboyant tree. And the island strikes an ideal balance between isolation and accessibility, according to Kay Showker, author of 100 Best Resorts of the Caribbean: "It's only 1,000 feet off the coast, but it's really all by itself."

For more information: Young Island

Guana Island likes to cite its stats: 850 acres, 36 guests, seven beaches. Yet the beauty of this island off the coast of Tortola is less quantifiable: It's a designated wildlife sanctuary with mountain trails and a range of endangered species. The ideal guest here, says Janet Groene, author of Personal Paradise: Caribbean, is an adventurous soul: "It's for those whose idea of luxury is a place where you can wake up with the birds and fall asleep to a frog serenade."

Similar to Parrot Cay in size (800 acres) and location (a 25-minute boat), Meridian Club strikes an entirely different tone -- "less intense and celebrity-driven," says Doug Stallings of Fodor's. "You won't find as many movers and shakers here." What you will find at this resort, which earned seventh place on our list, are just 12 guest rooms and two miles of white sand.

For more information: The Meridian Club on Pine Cay

Even before David Copperfield bought this island in July, this resort was considered "the top of the food chain," according to Terry McCabe of Altour. Renting out only to single parties of 20 guests for $325,000 a week (that works out to about $100 an hour -- per person), the property has five guesthouses the size of small mansions. The 35-person staff fulfills every whim, from arranging special music performances to putting on beachfront fireworks displays.

For more information: Musha Cay

Some call it a miniature heaven on earth. Down the coast from Puerta Vallarta, along the lower scoop of shoreline that traces the Bay of Banderas, lies the remote resort of Majahuitas. Accessible only by boat (the jaunt takes 30 minutes and will run you about 50 dollars), the semi-private beach is best known for its rustic splendor -- luxurious, candlelit huts and exquisite feasts cooked to order right in front of you. For those who like to mix romance with recreation, the crystal waters at Majahuitas range from 10 to 60 feet deep, making for ideal scuba diving and snorkeling.

Gracing the ten o'clock rim of the French side of tiny, tropical St. Martin, the beach on Happy Bay is still relatively undiscovered, requiring a 10-minute hike through the underbrush to find it. Once there, however, this hidden haven instantly captivates. Shrouded by bent and swaying palm trees, and boasting a flawless crescent of white sand that neatly frames the sparkly turquoise water, the beach is largely uninhabited, and therefore known for its liberal dress code. Some villas are currently in the making here, but development remains spare, so at lunchtime most sustenance-seekers stroll south to Friar’s Bay.

The achingly pretty Flamenco Beach lazes on the northwest corner of Culebra, the picture-postcard isla chiquita 17 miles east of mainland Puerto Rico. Perched next to a wildlife preserve and melting into a light-blue surf that remains waist-deep 50 feet out, this idyllic, mile-long stretch of beige sand is frequently populated by lounging lizards and dive-bombing pelicans -- but not a lot of tourists. Therein lies the romance. (Note: On the far end of the beach, abandoned military tanks sit in the brush, left over from U.S. Navy exercises in the '70s. Man your cameras accordingly.)

They say pirates once ran their bawdy business out of St. Thomas, the hilly, subtropical gem that lolls in the northern waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Centuries later, the buccaneers have gone, but St. Thomas remains one of the Caribbean’s most popular ports of call. The beach at Magens Bay is pocketed on the top side of the island and sheltered by rock formations and shade trees, a slam-dunk destination for lovers of surf, lovers of sunsets and lovers -- period. What makes Magens so romantic? Well, for starters, the beach is shaped like a heart...

For true nature enthusiasts, the beach at the southern end of Corcovado National Park on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula is romance at its wildest. Getting there can be arduous -- the trip requires flying into a tiny airstrip, surviving a bumpy cab ride (or donkey-drawn carriage) and, of course, hoofing it. But the payoff is obvious: Just off the green sand beach sits a lantern-lit tent camp surrounded by a virtual eco-lab of vegetation and animal life, including scarlet macaws and monkeys. Here, enchanted visitors sip piña coladas in a thatched bar, wade in the Jacuzzi-warm surf, or bathe in a fresh-water stream that spills out from the jungle just a few clicks down. It's truly the ultimate tropical escape.

In 1854, Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenia, built a palace on the shores of Biarritz in southwest France, instantly transforming the region from an ordinary whaling town into a vacation retreat worthy of royal attention. Today, Biarritz Beach on the Bay of Biscay remains the pride of the Côte Basque, each year luring endless waves of surfers and sunbathers to its golden sands, breathtaking cliffs and vibrant nightlife. Incidentally, for those who prefer their romance indoors, Eugenia’s little beach pad is now the world-class Hôtel du Palais.

The odds were clearly stacked against it: 3,000 Greek islands are scattered about the Agaean Sea, 220 in the Cyclades group alone, just one of them the serene, beach-strewn isle of Ios. And yet it all comes down to one little cove. On the quiet eastern shore of Ios, just south of the more inhabited Kalamos Beach, lies the secluded sanctuary of Papa, a barely-there inlet whose half-moon plot of sand, placid sapphire waters and protective curve of rock-mountain walls proves once and for all that the Greek Gods -- and Mother Nature -- knew a thing or two about eros.

Some 1,000 miles east of the African mainland -- and the continent’s smallest sovereign state -- the Republic of Seychelles continues to define romance, if only by the hordes of honeymooners who swarm to its lush shores every year. Although any beach on the 115-island cluster is worth the airfare, true lovers can be found ambling on the soft, flat sands of Anse Boileau on the main island of Mahé, or along the tranquil shorelines of La Digue (made famous in Bacardi ads), where everyone knows everyone and guests at the island lodge are fetched from the ferry by ox cart.

Dangling like a dewdrop from the southern tip of India, the island nation of Sri Lanka is a topographical marvel, where rolling emerald plains gently blend into forested hills, and colorful Buddhist and Hindu temples dot the landscape like jewelry. But the beaches that fringe the perimeter of Sri Lanka are what best capture hearts, especially the sloping sands of Bentota, on the island’s southwestern ridge. Tucked between the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and a lazy blue river just behind it, Bentota Beach is a top choice among sun worshippers who know a garden paradise when they see one.

Blessed with Crayola-color vistas and dominated by the black-rock twin peaks of an ancient volcano at its center, Bora Bora, the jewel of French Polynesia’s Leeward Islands, is renowned for its on-the-water deck-bungalows, complete with steps that lead directly down into bath-warm lagoons. The magnificent Matira Point, on the southern tip of the main island, is especially mesmerizing, with its mint-blue waves, sugar-white sands and awesome views of the cloud-piercing mountains. Favorite couples' activities include botanical hikes, beach picnics and glass-bottom-boating.

Lingering in the southwestern waters of the Fiji archipelago is the volcanic island of Vatulele (pronounced vah-too-LAY-lay), a coral-and-sand wonderland on which native coconut and taro farmers mingle among high-end jet-setters and adventurous wedding parties from around the globe. An all-inclusive resort, the island is home to a dazzling variety of villa facilities, some in jungle settings, others beachside. The 110-person staff is hellbent on pampering its guests, asking them to abide by one set of island rules: no money transactions, no telephones, no TV and no shoes. Hey, no problem.

Floating among the dreamscapes of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the private resort of Hayman Island, an Eden-like outpost that practically flaunts it romantic grandeur -- with sweeping, coral-lined beaches, verdant tropical foliage and a perpetually sultry climate. Visitors routinely share space with a colorful contingent of wild things (cockatoos, swans and butterflies abound), and at night the stars practically explode against the ink-black sky. High-end tourists can check out the sweet suite scene on the island’s southwestern side, with its ample villas woven among peaceful waterfalls, delicate gardens and open-air lanais.

Quietly nestled on the northern shores of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the beach at Hanalei Bay is damn near picture-perfect, with its elegant horseshoe of bright sand hugging the base of the island’s deep green mountains. Legendary for its terrific surf and intoxicating seabreeze, the striking landscape actually transforms throughout the day. In the morning, the glassy water reflects the surrounding cliffs like a three-mile mirror, and at sunset, you’d swear someone had painted the sky. Hand-in-hand beach strolls are mandatory here.

Who says you need to cross the pond to find true romance? Located toward the center of the 1,700-island shoestring of the Florida Keys, Bahai Honda State Park is something of a departure from the typical Florida beach scene -- quieter than the madness at Daytona and blissfully devoid of the blanket-to-blanket crush of South Beach. Privacy reigns here, with shallow, teal waters that stretch beyond the horizon, and hundreds of yards of virtually empty sand. For those who want to extend their romantic interlude to an overnight, the park provides 80 convenient campsites for tent-toters and RV drivers.