The 5 Star, adults only Likuliku Lagoon is an eco-friendly island paradise off the coast of Western Fiji. It was the first resort in the country to incorporate overwater bungalows and the setting, in a natural ocean lagoon surrounded by a coral reef marine sanctuary, is stunning. Conservation is a big part of the Likuliku story with the world’s last wild population (they were assumed to be extinct until 2010) of Fijian Crested Iguanas to be found in the resort’s on-land sanctuary. Educational, expert guided forest walks can be arranged. The resort offers relaxation, education, warm hospitality and wonderful food, and its overwater bungalows are romantic and dreamy. Overwater Bungalows & Other Accommodation: The aforementioned overwater bungalows, or bures as they are referred to in Fiji, sit at the edge of the fringing reef. They have luxury interiors but the design is semi-traditional and the materials natural and local which gives them a nice earthy, authentic feel. The resort is generally tranquil but the overwater bungalows are far more so. Being just ten in total and in such a secluded location they are remarkably quiet and peaceful. All are equally sized – with 646 sq. feet/60 square meters of internal space and 334/31 of external. Inside you have one bedroom with king size bed and a lounging area which opens out to the furnished terrace and open ocean beyond. You have direct access to the water below via a small wooden deck and stairs and inside there are glass panels on the floor to observe the abundant sea live below. Their bathrooms too come with romantic free standing bath tubs offering views over the lagoon. The overwater bungalows at Likuliku come with a complimentary daily canapé plate from the resort’s head chef. They are the most popular choice at the resort so booking well in advance is recommended. If they are though booked out you still have some nice on-land choices. Their 32 Beachfront Bures come with private courtyards with outdoor showers, day bed pavilions and the Deluxe Beachfront Bures have private plunge pools. All are just steps away from the sands. Then there are the Garden Bures, these are READ MORE

Lily Beach Resort is a 5 Star all inclusive with an absolutely stunning setting on a private island in southern Ari Atoll, Maldives. Their all inclusive plan offers a generous array of quality services, with a range of free water sports activities and excursions and lots and lots of premium quality food and drink. It is a well known resort and consistently popular; people return here year after year, so advance bookings are recommended. Overwater Bungalows & Other Accommodation: They have a choice of overwater villas, beach villas and lagoon villas at Pearl Beach. The typically romantic overwater villas are divided between ‘Deluxe Water Villas’ which have 1356 ft² of space including a private outdoor deck with a jacuzzi plunge pool, and the ‘Sunset Water Villas’ which are a step ahead with 1960 ft² to play with, a proportionally larger deck and larger pool, as well as a 24 hour personal butler service. All the overwater choices have a section of glass floor panels so you can gaze at the sea life below from the comfort of your bungalow. The Lagoon Villas are at the edge of the lagoon and cover just short of 1000 ft², are secluded and private and come with an outdoor bath on the terrace, while the Beach Villas have a nice location right on the beach with a private deck and about 730 ft² of space for the ‘standard’ villas and 1463 ft² for the two bedroom ‘family’ villas, which are effectively two interconnected standard villas. The style is modernist and fairly minimalist, with the emphasis being more on comfort than interior decor, and all the accommodation choices include luxury hotel standard facilities and features as standard; air-conditioning, WiFi, flat-screen TV & home theatre system, tea/coffee making facilities, minibar and safe etc. The bathrooms are all suitably plush too with rainfall showers and spa bathtubs. Overwater Bungalow Prices: Check out all the details – prices, reviews and more photos, on their Booking.com page here and on their Expedia.com page here. Resort Facilities & Things to Do: There are four restaurants and three bars at the resort and the quality of the food and drink is READ MORE

A strong candidate for the best luxury resort in Mauritius, the 5 Star Constance Le Prince Maurice, just an hour from Port Louis and its international airport, is a divine slice of paradise and one which boasts the country’s only overwater bungalows. There are just eleven in total though – eight junior suites and three particularly spacious and luxurious water villas – so be prepared to book well in advance. Though the height of luxury and beautifully styled they have just one drawback, that is that they sit over a lagoon fish sanctuary which, though it features much interesting sea life, means you are not allowed to swim just outside your door. Once that disappointment is overcome though these overwater bungalows leave very little else to complain about and the Constance Prince Maurice in general is a truly fantastic resort. It has excellent spa facilities and a whole host of activities can be enjoyed including water-sports and golf at not one but two different 18 hole championship golf courses. Though the resort mainly caters for romantic getaways, honeymoons etc. children can and do come here too, and the Prince Maurice Kids Club does a fine job looking after them. Overwater Bungalows & Other Accommodation: Constance Le Prince Maurice has 89 suites and villas spread over 150 acres of stunning beach, lagoon and lush tropical gardens. The overwater bungalows, as mentioned above, sit on the lagoon and are of two types – suites and villas. Both are beautifully designed and furnished in the traditional Pacific style and feel incredibly romantic. They only major difference between the suites and villas is their respective sizes. The suites come in at a respectable 753 square feet (70 m²) and have one double bedroom with a seating area, a lovely outdoor terrace plus some very swish bathrooms The villas though are over twice the size at 1,400 square feet (130 m² ). Along with a larger bedroom they also come with a separate lounge/living room plus dining space, and have a whirlpool bath/jacuzzi in the bathroom and a soak tub outside on the terrace. Beyond the overwaters the beachside accommodation at Constance Prince Maurice is READ MORE

W Maldives is a sophisticated, 5-star private, (heart shaped!) island resort with cutting edge design and facilities. It styles itself as a ‘Luxury Playground’, it sees its fair share of international celebs and is a glamorous and fun place to hang out. Facilities include high quality restaurants and bars, a sublime sauna & fitness center and a water sports & dive center. The resort sits by what is considered the best house reef in the Maldives and you can admire a huge amount of sea life direct from your overwater villa –  reef sharks, angel fish, stingrays and glow in the dark jellyfish and plankton for example. Overwater Bungalows & Other Accommodation: Most of the accommodation at W is overwater. Their entry level overwater villas they term Fabulous Overwater Oasis and Spectacular Lagoon Oasis. Entry level or not these are incredible places to stay and could be marketed as pretty much presidential suites in a lot of other resorts less extravagant than W Maldives. They are sleek and stylish, and cover 1570 square feet/146 square meters of space which includes one double bedroom, a lounge with glass floor panels, bathroom and an outside terrace which has lounging space, a plunge pool and direct access to the water below. The only difference as far as we could see between these two is that the ‘Spectacular Lagoon Oasis’ has an overwater hammock on the terrace and the ‘Fabulous Overwater Oasis’ doesn’t. For such a minor difference you’d expect them to be priced very similarly but for some reason, as you will see on the booking page, the Spectacular Lagoon Oasis will cost you a couple of hundred dollars more per night. Nice feature but definitely not worth that much more. Then on to the Vice Presidential and Presidential Overwater Villas. These are jaw dropping two bedroom units which are enormously spacious, the former being 3476 square feet/323 square meters and the latter a full 5295 square feet/492 square meters. They share the same general facilities and features of the more er…’basic’ villas, what you are mainly paying for here is their much greater space and greater sense of privacy. On land there READ MORE

Anantara The Palm Resort Dubai is a fabulous 5 Star resort with 400 meters of private shoreline on Dubai’s world famous Palm Jumeirah. It has tremendous facilities, including a very opulent spa, and its accommodation is seen as among the very best in the city. Even better for the Anantara is that it is the only resort in Dubai with overwater bungalows. (Note: Palm Jumeirah is also home to Dubai’s only underwater hotel – check it out here.) Overwater Bungalows & Other Accommodation: They have a great selection of luxury accommodation – the above mentioned overwater bungalows, or Over Water Villas as they describe them, being the star attraction (book early if at all possible). Being such a top class resort even their most ‘basic’ accommodation – the ‘Standard Rooms’ are neither basic nor standard, they cover 38 square meters/409 square feet and have balconies with a view over the lagoon. That being said though a relatively small step up in price can offer you more space and just that little bit of extra wow factor with the Premier and Deluxe Rooms. An extra jump in price allows you to choose between apartments and very classy beach villas. Their 18 overwater bungalows though are the main attraction at Anantara The Palm and are designed and decorated to reflect the resort’s South East Asian theme. They stand out on the lagoon like mini Thai temples and are as striking inside as out with high vaulted ceilings and sleek furniture and fittings. They also all have that classic overwater bungalow feature – glass floors panels – to watch the underwater life, spacious outside terraces and very opulent bathrooms with huge bathtubs with a view. Overwater Bungalow Prices: Check out all the details – prices, reviews & more photos, on the Booking.com page here and on the Resort’s Own Website (Anantara) here. Resort Facilities & Things to Do: Anantara The Palm Resort is a tremendous resort and the quality of the accommodation is equalled by the quality of its facilities. It has a very extensive, award winning spa and wellness center, the Anantara Balance. Here you can enjoy a huge amount of health READ MORE

Sandals, fresh from their success with overwater bungalows in Jamaica, quickly turned their sights to St Lucia, and here at the all-inclusive, adults only, Sandals Grande St. Lucian resort you can expect the same high levels of luxury, sophistication and service.  It is very much an opulent romantic getaway, being adults only and attracting a well heeled clientele, but the atmosphere is friendly, relaxed and rarely stuffy. Their overwater bungalows are a honeymoon favorite and with only nine of them they are generally booked out well in advance. They come with glass floor panels that allow you to peer into the Caribbean just below your feet, tranquility soaking tubs, private patios and over-water hammocks amongst other special features. They also have a 24 hour personal butler service and the service throughout the resort is top notch – efficient and professional but also relaxed and personable. Overwater Bungalows & Other Accommodation: They have an enormous range of accommodation at the resort, with the above mentioned overwater bungalows being the most popular. These have a spacious, luxurious feel with hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, king-size beds with soft linens and plush pillows, smart TVs, sun decks, outdoor showers, swish bathrooms and 24 hour personal butler service. Many of the other choices well match, if not surpass, the style and sophistication of the overwaters though just without the novelty of having the ocean directly under your feet. The beachside suites in particular are extremely opulent and very much worth considering if the overwaters are not free. Overwater Bungalow Prices: Check out all the details – prices, reviews and more photos, on the resort’s own website (Sandals) here, and on their Expedia.com page here. Note: Like all luxury overwater bungalows in the Caribbean the overwater bungalows at Sandals Grande St. Lucian are incredibly sought after – Covid-19 notwithstanding, for the 2021 season you should really reserve your stay as soon as possible. You are allowed free cancellation on most bookings.  Resort Facilities & Things to Do: Sandals Grande St. Lucian is a huge resort with 311 accommodation units, twelve restaurants and six bars including a British Pub and a swim-up pool bar. All of this is READ MORE