Returned from a nice trip to Crete only yesterday.
However, still think I prefer Rhodes.

Yes, I was a "Coast Guard brat".  One of my favorite memories is seeing the "tall ships" in NYC harbor for the bicentennial (1976) from the vantage point of Governor's Island.

Governors Island in the New York City harbor.  Lived there as a youth.  Not for physical beauty at all... but location and interesting history.  Just a short distance across the water to Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.  Lived in a historic fort with castle walls, cannons and a moat around it.  GI was a Coast Guard base and was sold to the City of New York for one dollar a number of years ago and is now a "historic park."

Malta is really nice... outstanding climate! 

Island of Capri is not bad either.

1. Santorini
2. Rhodes

I'll just back up the other posters

There is a reason Santorini is such a hot honeymooner location. It has beautiful beaches, amazing history, museums, architecture, mountains, views, hot springs, volcanos and culture.

I will never forget my experience at Ikaria (the island that got its name from Ikarus of course and has a very old annual chess tournament every July). This is one of the 4 places of the earth that peole live longer than anywhere else on earth! If you visit the island you'll see why!

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 07/20/12 at 14:37:17:

Oops. Anyway a non-sarcastic answer for me would be the (biggest of the) Azores,interesting geology, kind of cheap, not too touristy. But I haven't been to so many islands so I wouldn't know so well.

MNb wrote on 07/19/12 at 03:16:52:


I remember some newspaper columnist a few years back, relaying how she'd run into an old acquaintance...
'How are you?'
'Not so well; I've been diagnosed with prostate cancer'
'Oh, that's awful...'
'I was going to say that it's the worst thing that's ever happened to me, but then I remember those two weeks in Malta...'

Great Britain. Great food and weather.

Sardinia.

For romantic souls like me, it's Santorini, esp. if you can afford to stay in the town of Oia (I cannot decide if it looks better under the sunset or the moonlight).

Maui's not bad. But my favorite is a bit farther north: Kauai is a bit more remote, a bit more rugged, and the snorkelling there is fantastic.

My other favorite is the Big Island of Hawaii. The climate zones go from tropical to desert to mountain glaciers! The culture is touristy in and around Kona, and almost Japanese in Hilo. The weather in Kona is predictably a low of 75F and a high of 85, with sun. The weather in Hilo is 10 degrees cooler and rainy. You can get everything you want there, except extreme seasonal shifts. The water sport there is almost as good as Kauai. There's even a night life in the tourist areas!

The only thing these two islands, and all of Hawaii lack, is a chess scene.

Must be small, let's say, no larger than Jamaica, which is 4,244 square miles in area.

Best small island so far in my life: Maui.  Rainforests, mountains, deserts, beautiful trees and flowers, unbeatable weather; outstanding beaches.  Rainbows.  Plenty moe. Plenty wahine.