A dash of cerulean blue seas and carnation-coloured sands that rises up from the rollers of the Caribbean, Anguilla remains charmingly off-the-beaten-track – at least compared to its jet setter compadres of Saint Bart’s and the USVI.

It is, of course the beaches that draw the bikini-clad crowds and Hawaiian shirt wearers here. These string their way right around the elongated coastlines on the north and south of the island, sloping down to the lapping ocean and glimmering a perfect white against the Carib sun. Shoal Bay tops the chart for many, with its shimmering arch of alabaster sands and curious Bauhaus condominiums abutting the shore. Then there’s the wide, dune-backed stretches of Rendezvous Bay, or boulder-strewn Barnes – secluded, picture-perfect tropical spots one and all.

Anguilla tour guides also champion the paradisiacal island’s other major draw, which lies submerged below the turquoise shore waters of the sea. Corals of all shapes and sizes hide betwixt the underwater limestone boulders here, nurse sharks lurk in the shadows around Prickly Pear Cays, glass-bottomed boaters seek out angelfish and barracuda, and divers share the waves with hawksbill turtles and leatherbacks alike.