Moshup Beach captures the best of Martha’s Vineyard beaches but without the throngs of people. Visitors often unwisely overlook Moshup Beach for more popular landmarks along the vineyard, so the long stretches of sandy shore are usually free for you to peruse and admire at your liking. The beach’s flawless white sands are contrasted sharply by steely grey cliffs and baby blue skies – a great backdrop for a leisurely barefoot stroll. And for the truly adventurous (and unblushing) beachgoer, Moshup Beach has areas for sunbathing in the nude.

Once known as the haunt of the infamous pirate Blackbeard, Ocracoke Island is now heralded for its secluded, undeveloped beaches and its unique regional charm. Ocracoke Island is one of the barrier islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and is only accessible by boat or plane. The island’s 16 miles of beaches are great for fishing, swimming and sunbathing by day, and the beach’s sunsets are legendary. Ocracoke locals have a laid back lifestyle that is ideal for escaping from the clamor of the rat race. The surrounding town still retains the charm of an old-fashioned fishing village – perfect for a quiet dinner with the family or a romantic night out.

A first class strip of golden sand with excellent swimming and a good sunbathing area (set out with sun loungers for residents and guests of Glitter Bay Estate). There is no public beach access nearby although the beach is accessible by sea or on foot along the sand from nearby Colony Club/Heron Bay.

Santa Giulia is the place to go in Corsica if watersports are your thing, but there’s still space for restful sunbathing. It’s popular but still beautiful: a strip of fine, cream-coloured sand backed by a cluster of restaurants and hotels, many with their own gardens, and further inland, sun-bleached old houeses and churches, all set on the edge of a beautiful, shady pine forest.

Introduction
Somewhere in the middle of Gumbet is a small, entirely hidden original village that has been swamped by the modern resort. From the 1970s onwards, this satellite grew up along the nearest sandy beach to Bodrum town, but has now become a fully-fledged resort in its own right; a sea of neon and waves of lager crash upon the shores. People come here for gentle, hungover watersports by day and to party by night, with a bit of sunbathing and souvenir shopping in between.
Who goes there?
While the beach used to be ideal for families, the intense all-night partying in high season has taken over and, these days, this is much more a resort for those who are young and on the prowl. Out of season, it calms down.
Where in the world?
Gumbet lies on the southwest coast of Turkey, 5km (3 miles) west of Bodrum on the southern shore of the Bodrum Peninsula. Effectively a suburb of Bodrum, the resort is built around a horseshoe bay of sand, overlooking the Aegean Sea and backed by hills.
Beach
The beach is the reason for Gumbet’s existence, a curving kilometre or so of sand that is lined the whole way with hotels, bars and restaurants, all of whom put out sunbeds and umbrellas that are free to use as long as you keep drinking. Waiters run up and down the beach to serve you while a little further out, grown men in lobster pink are falling off banana boats and ringos. The more adventurous can try windsurfing, jet skiing and paragliding. There is an official topless beach a short distance out of town (not something normally permitted in Turkey).
Beyond the beach
There really isn’t anything much beyond the beach apart from a few shops and of course, huge numbers of bars and discos. The windmills up on the hill above the town offer a great view but the insalubrious debris and scattering of drunks makes them less appealing. Head into Bodrum to the magnificent Crusader Castle of St Peter, now home to a fascinating Museum of Underwater Archaeology with a ship dating back to the 14th century BC amongst the carefully preserved wrecks. One of the best ways to spend a day is to take a Blue Cruise, a day trip on a gulet, meandering around the local islands, swimming and snorkelling in deserted coves, and visiting little-known archaeological sites.
Family fun
The beach here is very family friendly with its softly sloping sand, choice of not-too-energetic watersports and camel rides (on Kargi Beach), plenty of shade, drinks and toilets. Aquapark Dedeman is a huge water park with masses of slides and flumes at Ortakent; take a taxi or the free bus in high season.
Retail therapy
The shops in Gumbet are plentiful but not necessarily of terribly high quality. If you are after Turkish delights, belly dancing costumes and fake watches, this is the place to come, with shops staying open as long as people are awake and spending (which is most of the night). If you want to go home with a really beautiful rug or a designer leather jacket, you will probably do better going into Bodrum, which is a seriously excellent centre for upmarket shopping. The carpet town of Milas is within easy daytrip distance if you would like to see where they are made and you can also buy straight off the loom in some of the local villages. The local market sells crafts on Tuesdays and fruit and veg on Fridays, and there is a big daily market in nearby Turgutreïs.
A night on the town
When they say night out, they mean it here, with only the feeblest staggering home before the dawn chorus. As the sun sets, the whole town centre lights up as a mini-Vegas Strip of pulsating neon, thudding to a hundred clashing drum beats from competing bars and clubs along the seafront and side streets. The party usually lasts until at least 0430, when it is traditional to have a bowl of soup to see in the dawn and damp down the tequila before sleeping on the beach for the morning. Some of the best dance spots are the Samba Disco (at the Club M Hotel, on the windmills headland) and the open-air Hemera After Hours Club (off Mali Leather Sokak).
Eating out
Most of the restaurants and cafés in Gumbet are aimed at the mass market and offer a range of pizzas and other international standards alongside the Turkish staples of mezze, kebabs and fish. There are even fast food joints here. Amongst the better options are Shirley Valentine’s (Gerence Sokak) where you can eat roast beef and jam roly poly and Planet Yucca (Adnan Menderes Bulvari), which serves Mexican, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Dutch and English and Turkish food. For anything above the ordinary, head into Bodrum.
Getting around
Gumbet itself is relatively small and you can get around the resort itself on foot. If you want to go further afield, there are plenty of taxis, dolmus (share taxis) and some local buses, although these are probably harder to negotiate if you don’t speak Turkish.
Exploring further afield
It will be a long day but take a trip north along the coast to Ephesus and Selçuk, the magnificently preserved Roman city where St Paul preached to the Ephesians and where, supposedly, the Virgin Mary lived out her days. Also in the area are the ruined cities of Priene and Miletus, the imposing temple of Apollo at Didyma. Inland are yet more ruined cities, Aphrodisias and Hierapolis which stands next to the extraordinary ‘frozen falls’ of Pamukkale, where limestone has coated the side of the hill in fairytale cascade of pools. Or take your passport and a ferry over to the Greek island of Kos.
Splashing out
There really is nowhere in Gumbet worth splashing out on a meal, so head down the road into Bodrum if you want to celebrate. At the Secret Garden (Eskiçesme Mah) in a side street near the marina, an English chef serves classic French cuisine in a dreamily romantic setting. If you’d prefer the country, try Denizhan Turgut Reis Yolu, about 2.5km (1.5 miles) out of Bodrum, where the chefs lay on a dazzling performance with flaming kebabs in their glassed-in kitchen. But for the finest view, the place to be is the poolside restaurant at the Antique Theatre Hotel, where the food is matched by a panorama of twinkling city lights and moonlight dancing on the waves of Bodrum Bay behind the floodlit castle.
Flying in
Bodrum-Mugla Airport (BJV)