The Australian reef: Wilson Island

You can walk around Wilson Island in 10 minutes flat, says Anthony Perrottet in the Sunday Times - yet the natural life on this minuscule Australian cay is so entrancing, visitors stay for days and still find themselves reluctant to leave.

It lies just off the coast of Queensland, at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, and is a major nesting ground for seabirds.

Only 12 guests are allowed at any one time, staying in luxurious tents with king-size beds and dining together in a candlelit longhouse.

The island's verdant interior seethes with avian life; giant turtles nest on its beaches at night, beneath impossibly starry skies; and the reef, with its "brilliant forests of staghorn coral", begins just 6ft from the shore.

Freedom Australia (0870 742 4000) offers an 11-night Australia trip from £1,739pp incl. four nights on Wilson Island.