With three hotels on an island the size of the Isle of Wight, and a main road that’s little more than a sandy track, this is a slice of the Swahili Coast fast disappearing from the horizon. The only problem we can spot is choosing which beach to call your own, although the area around Pole Pole Resort has the sort of sand that’ll make you want to toss your return air ticket into the Indian Ocean.

Why?
For all Mafia’s above-water charms, it’s what’s underwater that’s all the talk on the castaway grapevine, particularly Chole Bay Marine Reserve, spectacularly rich in tropical fish and home to some of the best corals in the Indian Ocean.

Pole Pole Resort is the best on Mafia. Translating as “slowly slowly”, it’s a nine-bungalow, Italian-designed ecoresort — all thatch, muslin and mahogany.

Where to eat: don’t even think about straying from the Italian-Swahili options overlooking the beach.