World's sexiest beaches 2008

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6. Site: Providencia

Bring the heat: The Caribbean islands sprinkled off the coast of Nicaragua offer a tantalizing cultural brew—one part Afro-Caribbean, with two jiggers of Latin America. Providencia, under Colombian jurisdiction, is a back-to-basics paradise where beach shacks hum with both reggae and salsa, beers are cheaper than bottled water, and there's nothing to do but back-float in calm, sun-dappled waters.

Select sand: Only three miles long and two miles wide, Providencia won't take long to explore, but once you hit the khaki crescent of Playa Manzanillo, with palm trees hanging over the water, it's unlikely you'll want to go any further.

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Hookup potential: Love the one you're with. The neighboring island of San Andrés sees tourists from Colombia, but Providencia is gloriously quiet.

Privacy rating: 4. There are no T-shirt shops on the beach, but there will be a number of locals enjoying the surf as much as you are. And they like to visit.

Pillow talk: Long sunny days, the slow pace, and cheap lobster dinners are more than a match for more typical luxury. The 35-room Sol Caribe Providencia sits on a quiet bay and has its own restaurant, bar, and swimming pool. By the end of the first day, you'll be on a first-name basis with all the ladies manning that restaurant and bar.

Sol Caribe Providencia
Tel: 57 851 48036
Doubles from $135, including breakfast and lunch or dinner daily

7. Site: Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Bring the heat: Looking for heat, you say? Well, this is a volcanic island, after all, and despite Lanzarote's location 100 miles off the coast of Africa, it's Spanish (and the locals are, well, passionate). Much of the interior is made up of jagged lava fields, and the black sand beach is called El Golfo.

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Slide show: World's sexiest beaches 2008

Select sand: If quiet splendor (and skin) is your thing, head south: Caleta del Congrio is a remote beach at the island's southern tip where fair young things are known to shed all their clothes. Choices abound, though: The island is ringed by some 90 white-, golden-, and black-sand beaches.

Hookup potential: You'll find a steady flow of tourists, from Spain and beyond, chasing a fun weekend in the sun. For those who like surfer types, make for the north of the island and the wild, four-mile-long Famara Beach, where board-lovers do their thing.

Privacy rating: 8.7. We already said it: 90 beaches.

Pillow talk: The influx of budget vacationers hurts the lodging around the island, but the Hesperia Lanzarote, which has sister hotels in Madrid and Bilbao, gets it right. Located in Puerto Calero, it has 46 suites and 289 standard rooms; four swimming pools; comfortable cabanas on the water; and a good, clean design that plays up the Mediterranean influence.

Hesperia Lanzarote
Tel: 34 828 080 800
Doubles from $194

8. Site: Oahu, Hawaii

Bring the heat: Oahu gets its share of loud shirt–wearing tourists, but it's surprising how few venture around the entire island, choosing instead to nurse fruity drinks in Waikiki. Which leaves the North Shore and nearby beaches to the hot surfer boys and girls and superfit locals. And you're free to mix it up with them.

Select sand: In winter, the North Shore's Sunset Beach is legendarily sexy—have you ever seen so many hard bodies toting around their surfboards? Great ogling, but you don't want to get in that pounding surf yourself. A short drive away is Kailua Beach, a sweet arc of sand where the pretty girls and sporty guys from the moneyed enclave of Kailua like to body-board.

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Hookup potential: Score! Oahu is a no-shirt, no-shoes, no-problem island. Mix in all the athletic types who travel here for the swells, the young military people stationed here, and the happy-go-lucky locals, and you get sparks.

Privacy: 2. Sorry, bud, it's a small island, and the locals have claimed the most secluded bits as their own.

Pillow talk: Turtle Bay is right at the North Shore—and after a long evening hanging out at the house where all the surfers live, you won't want to drive all the way south to one of the big resorts. If possible, book one of the 42 cottages, which have more personality than the 400-plus rooms.

Turtle Bay Resort
Tel: 800 203 3650 (toll-free)
Tel: 808 293 6000
Doubles from $340; cottages from $703

9. Site: St. Lucia, Caribbean

Bring the heat: If curious couples once fantasized about Jamaica—a sensual green-and-blue paradise that's still close to home—these days St. Lucia has assumed that role. The verdant island has an increasing number of top-tier properties, a host of possible land and water adventures to spice things up, and plenty of sand to roll around in as the surf breaks over your bodies.