Enjoy these perfect destinations where insiders escape the crowds. Plus, our latest list of beach-blanket books and the looks to go with them .

The only way to survive an interminably long, hard, cold winter is to book some time in the sun to look forward to. But preferably not somewhere that is besieged by tourists or where you run the risk of being an unwitting extra in a reality TV show at the beach bar.

So we asked a panel of in-the-know travel insiders (some of whom were more reticent to give up their secrets than others) for eight hidden gems. Instead of busy Ibiza we suggest a quieter cove on nearby Formentera. Rather than follow the masses to Goa in India, consider Talalla in Sri Lanka. And if Tulum in Mexico is getting a little overrun for your tastes, might we suggest a stretch of Costa Rican paradise called Playa Santa Teresa?

From Cap Ferret to Cuba, these sandy spots are all about unwinding, kicking off your shoes, reading a good book (see our recommendations below), and floating so peacefully in the ocean all you can hear is your heartbeat in your ears.

Whether you’re in desperate need of a vitamin D shot right now or want the jump on where to book your summer escape, we’ve deliberately picked beaches that absolutely aren’t about VIP clubs, over-subscribed hotels or strict pre-trip diets. The fact is, nobody’s heard of half of them, and that’s exactly the way we like it.

Now is the time to go to Santa Teresa. It is currently enjoying that perfect prelapsarian moment when it has lured a boutique hotel but is not well-known enough to have drawn the masses. Yet. Mr Leonardo DiCaprio and Mses Gwyneth Paltrow and Gisele Bündchen have already done the recce and given it their stamp of approval – it’s hard not to fall for the untamed arc of surf backed by impenetrable rainforest. With coconut-heavy palms stooping like natural sunshades, it looks pretty much as Mr Christopher Columbus would have found it.

Where to stay: Latitude 10 is a collection of jungle-strewn casitas. mrandmrssmith.com

How to get there: San Jose is a seven-hour flight from New York or 14 hours from London, before a 45-minute connection to Tambor.

As if a Sri Lankan yoga-surf trip didn’t have cachet enough, this untouched southern stretch on the Indian Ocean gets double points for anonymity. Talalla’s bumpy, undeveloped access track keeps away all but the most tenacious travellers and means the palm-fringed crescent is all yours. Surfing and sun salutations are how most folk pass the time (classes are available at the handful of thatched beach hotels) or you can simply swim and stay hammock-swaddled – you’ll find no yoga bullies here.

Where to stay: Talalla Retreat has a collection of eco bungalows. talallaretreat.com

How to get there: Fly from Hong Kong to Colombo in less than six hours.

The politics surrounding Cuba has distracted the world from its amazing beaches – leaving many of them barely touched. Lucky for us: nowhere else in the Caribbean could you unearth a bay as good-looking yet chaste as this. Three-and-a-half hours’ drive west of Havana, it’s stuck in the dog-eared pages of Mr Ernest Hemingway: primitive timber cabins on stilts, fishing and dive boats bouncing out each day (barracuda await), and a time warp restaurant serving up Cristal (the local beer not the bling champagne) and your catch on a plate. This leaves the beach free for you and the iguanas. Everybody else is out at sea.

Where to stay: There’s only one place to stay – Hotel María la Gorda. hotelmarialagorda-cuba.com 

How to get there: Watch this space – change is afoot so it should soon be easier than ever to get from the US to Havana.

Easily confused with Cap Ferrat on the Côte d’Azur, Cap Ferret’s loyal pilgrims would shudder at the comparison. The former is where “le jet-set” goes to be pawed and papped; the latter where France’s more discreet names (Mr Philippe Starck and Ms Marion Cotillard) abscond for camera-free quiet time. It’s ungroomed – a skinny peninsula 70km directly west of Bordeaux with wide Atlantic beaches on one side and sheltered bays on the other – and fabulously flat, so rent une bicyclette, slap the SPF on your shoulders and pootle between oyster shacks and cheese shops.

Where to stay: La Maison du Bassin has a beach-house atmosphere with stripped boards and shabby antiques. lamaisondubassin.com

How to get there: It’s a 90-minute flight from London to Bordeaux, or an hour’s hop from Paris.

Just try taking a bad photo of this coastline. If Italy’s a boot, then this is its spike heel, kicking off at the ancient limestone city of Gallipoli and unravelling southwards til you hit the old-fashioned seaside town of Leuca. You’ll see nothing but aquamarine splashes and bleached white sand through the pines. This is the Ionian Sea, where clear Grecian waters come to lap up Italian pizzazz – best experienced at one of the understatedly chic beach clubs (Balelido, Lido Gold and Coco Loco are the best).

Where to stay: Think Puglia is a collection of villas handpicked by a team that knows the region inside and out. thethinkingtraveller.com

How to get there: Three hours from London, into Brindisi or Bari airports.

Once you find a beach like this, you don’t pass it on. (We weren’t sure we wanted to.) Formentera is secret enough – a minuscule sandy island off Ibiza, where teak-limbed kids cruise about on scooters between chiringuito beach shacks – but Illetes is its ace in the hole. Fill up first at Juan y Andrea or Kioska Pirata, both sand-under-foot bars dishing up lobster spaghetti to the haves and the have-yachts whose 120-footers bob just offshore. Then, walk 200m up Illetes sandspit for a fistful of thatched umbrellas, another 200m for a smattering of towels, then another 200m for utter nothingness: just you, a few pebble towers, and water that makes the Maldives look murky.

Where to stay: You can’t stay on Illetes. Try nearby Gecko Beach Club. geckobeachclub.com

How to get there: Two-and-a-half hours flying time London to Ibiza, then a 15-minute catamaran.

What nobody likes to mention about Brazil is that it rains – a lot. Ipanema? Copacabana? They’re not immune. But in its own microclimate two-and-a-half hours from the city, basking in reliable rays, is Buzios, a fishing village turned flip-flop enclave where the Cariocas go for down time. And this being Brazil, after a day loafing on the beach you can assume a stylish experience come nightfall. Book a table overlooking Ferradura beach at rooftop restaurant A Galeria (in Insólito hotel) for an ever-changing Euro-Brazilian menu.

Where to stay: Casas Brancas is all wood, tiles and palm gardens. casasbrancas.com.br

How to get there: Fly from New York or London to Rio de Janeiro in around 10 hours.

Locals are very protective of Pfeiffer – rumour has it, they pull down the road sign every time it’s replaced (take the Sycamore Canyon Road exit if the sign’s been removed). It helps the locals’ cause that Pfeiffer Big Sur and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Parks are close by – but don’t let either throw you off the scent. Of Big Sur’s sands, Pfeiffer is the most spectacular, with purple-streaked dunes, dolphins frolicking and an eerie rock arch that makes for Mr Ansel Adams-standard shots, even from a smartphone. A tip: the water is cold year-round so this isn’t a swimming beach. If you’re going surfing or boogie boarding, take a full wet suit. Otherwise make it a spectator sport and watch with beer in hand: sunset here is a near-religious experience.

Where to stay: Guests lucky enough to have stayed at Post Ranch Inn are right – it’s worth the money. Mr & Mrs Smith has doubles at the cliff-top icon. mrandmrssmith.com

How to get there: Drive from LA in five-and-a-half hours; San Francisco in three.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro “Time is running out for me,” said Mr Kazuo Ishiguro 10 years ago when asked about his super-slow-mo pace of publication. He’s not sped up since. Now 60, this is the Booker Prize winner’s first work of fiction in a decade. A much-anticipated historical novel about a family separated by war in post-Roman sixth-century Britain, it’s worth the wait.

The Martian by Andy Weir Mr Andy Weir’s 2011 space odyssey is a gripping thriller about a manned mission to Mars that accidentally leaves one of the crew behind. Read the book now before Sir Ridley Scott’s blockbuster adaptation starring Mr Matt Damon hits the big screen later in the year.

Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon Ms Kim Gordon remains the original rock chick and critics are tipping this as the best music autobiography since Ms Patti Smith’s Just Kids. In this searing memoir, Ms Gordon charts the break-up of both her band Sonic Youth and her marriage to bandmate Mr Thurston Moore after his affair.

The First Bad Man by Miranda July This first full-length novel from the acclaimed film-maker and artist is the story of Cheryl, an eccentric, vulnerable, middle-aged woman who lives alone until her boss’ 21-year-old daughter moves in and tips her world upside down. Smart, wry, heartbreaking and pacey to read – it’s perfect sun-lounger material.

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert This totally true horror story is best read sitting down, so why not do it while taking a load off on holiday? Many species on our planet are on the cusp of extinction, says Ms Elizabeth Kolbert. An asteroid brought the last mass wipeout, 66 million years ago. Us lot (consuming, colonising, flying away on holidays) threaten another. Happy reading!