The Best Islands in the World and When to Go

Conde Nast Traveler has a brilliant piece this month for those who love to - or want to - island hop. As they point out, at any given moment, some island, somewhere in the world, is at its peak. The trick to having a great island experience is knowing when it is and getting there at that time. To facilitate this, the article lists 72 gorgeous islands and, sorting by month, identifies the best times to hit their shores based on criteria that include weather, water conditions and local festivals, in addition to gorgeous wildlife and scenery. There are too many to list them all here, so do check out the full list, but these are our favorites for each month:

• January: Cebu, Philippines; Djenné, Mali
• February: Langkawi, Malaysia
• March: Benguerra, Mozambique; the Maldives
• April: Corfu, Greece; Fiji
• May: Java, Indonesia; Mauritius
• June: Capri; Galápagos, Ecuador
• July: Bornholm, Denmark
• August: Île Sainte Marie, Madagascar
• September: Cook Islands
• October: Cristalino Island, Brazil; Seychelles
• November: Big Island of Hawaii; Gozo, Malta
• December: Cyprus; Phuket, Thailand