Papagaio is a private island with just 20 stand-alone bungalows set in a forest of palms and fruit trees. It lies at the southern tip of Santa Caterina Island, some 30 km from Florianopolis, the island capital of Santa Caterina State in southern Brazil. Photo: Felipe Terra.

Two things make Papagaio really special. Firstly, most of it is a protected nature reserve that consist the Atlantic Rainforest State Park of Serra do Tabuleiro and offshore Brazil’s rights sanctuary. Secondly besides having all the delights of a super-tranquil tropic sanctuary, including its own delicious oysters, Papagaio has its own petroglyphs. Photo: Carol Luz

Papagaio also has a third attitude: its ready access to the history and the sophistication of nearby Florianopolis with its 17th century fishing villages, jungle-covered hills, emerald lagoons and 40 sugar-soft beaches, full of bijou clubs and glamorous people. From Papagaio you get the best of every world laid at your feet. Photo: Marcio Marques

When to go: July to November, when the whales and penguins are on snow. Ilha do Papagaio was recently acclaimed in the Guardian newspaper as ”the stuff of fantasy”.