Satisfaction has been in short supply this year. The pound has plummeted, the summer was a washout and your house is now worth less than your shed.

What you need is a double dose of full-fat, supersaturated satisfaction, and we know exactly where you’ll find it. From nonews, no-shoes desert islands to full-spec, plasma’d-up spa resorts, here are the destinations where your satisfaction is guaranteed.

Prices, unless otherwise stated, are per person for seven nights, B&B, including flights from London and transfers

AFRICA

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1 Shiri beach, Fumba, Zanzibar

The mangrove-fringed beaches of Zanzibar’s southwest coast are less popular than those on the north and east, but if you’re visiting between December and February, when the northeast monsoon is blowing, this is where you want to be. The water is the same ludicrous shade of blue, the sand slightly more golden and, as Shiri beach faces west, it offers awesome sunsets. Day-trippers are unheard of and the guests at the Fumba Beach Lodge, five minutes away, seem reluctant to leave the hotel’s own perfect little strip of sand, making Shiri beach all yours.

Getting there: the signposts from the ramshackle, driftwood-built idyll of the Fumba Beach Lodge are suspiciously hard to find. Ask the owner Edwin van Zwam, to show you the way. The price is £1,442 with Expert Africa (020 8232 9777, www.expertafrica.com ).

2 Vamizi Island, Mozambique

Part managed by the Zoological Society of London, Vamizi is a favoured haunt of Nelson Mandela and the apotheosis of the African ecoresort. Just eight miles long by a mile wide, and considered among the last untouched African wildernesses, the island describes itself as “a conservation project funded through low-impact, upmarket tourism”. It goes without saying that the white-sand beaches are Bounty-bar perfect, but the biggest draw is the wildlife, with 112 avian species, samango monkeys and giant coconut crabs playing supporting roles to the main event – a pristine reef within wading distance, said to be home to more types of coral than the Great Barrier Reef, on which new marine species are still being discovered.

Getting there: to share the beach with Nelson, book a package at the luxury Vamizi Island Lodge; £3,647 with Expert Africa (020 8232 9777, www.expertafrica.com ).

3 Nkwichi beach, Malawi

There’s something of Neverland about Nkwichi – “squeaky sand” in the local dialect – a brilliant white beach on the rocky shores of Africa’s third largest lake. The six chalets, with crooked terraces, are straight out of PeterPan, and the fireflies that dart around the campfire at night are clearly pals of Tinker Bell. All that’s missing, fortunately, is Captain Hook and that infernal crocodile.
Getting there: Okavango Tours (020 8347 4030, www.okavango.com ) has four-night stays for £1,954pp.

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