The Andaman Sea & the Spice Coast

Begin where garden-city futurism meets old Asia. Marvel at the Supertrees and misty Cloud Forest of Gardens by the Bay, raise a Singapore Sling at Raffles' Long Bar, then graze Maxwell hawker center for chili crab and Hainanese chicken rice. Being small, SeaDream berths right on Marina Bay, a front-row seat the mega-ships can't claim, and an overnight lets you watch the light show glitter long after the crowds have thinned.

George Town's UNESCO-listed streets layer Chinese shophouses, Indian temples and colonial British architecture within a few blocks of each other, a genuine reflection of the trading crossroads this island has been for centuries. Its hawker food scene, char kway teow and asam laksa chief among the essentials, is regularly named among the best street food anywhere in Asia. A funicular ride up Penang Hill rewards with sweeping views and noticeably cooler air, while a round of golf and serious birdlife along the coastal wetlands round out one of Malaysia's most rewarding stops.

Thailand's grande dame of the Andaman is best seen from the water. Long-tail past the towering limestone stacks of Phang Nga Bay, kayak into hidden hongs, and dive the coral gardens of the Similans, then dine on fiery tom yum and grilled seafood at a beach shack come dusk. Rather than the crowded main pier, SeaDream anchors off quieter shores and drops the marina so you swim and paddle in bathwater seas before an overnight at anchor.

The Cellular Jail's silent, radiating wings once held India's freedom fighters in solitary confinement, a sobering counterpoint to the turquoise water and coral reef that ring these islands today. Beaches at Corbyn's Cove and Radhanagar, regularly ranked among Asia's best, give way just offshore to some of the richest, least-dived reef in the Bay of Bengal. Indigenous Andamanese and Nicobarese communities, some still living in voluntary isolation, make this archipelago as culturally singular as it is remote. A genuinely off-the-map corner of India.

One of the finest natural deep-water harbors in the world drew colonial navies here for centuries, and the same clear water now shelters some of Sri Lanka's best diving and, from spring through autumn, regular sightings of blue and sperm whales just offshore. Koneswaram Temple perches dramatically on Swami Rock above the bay, one of the island's most sacred Hindu sites. Quiet, uncrowded beaches and a growing wellness retreat scene round out Sri Lanka's least-developed major coastal city.

Sri Lanka's capital layers colonial Dutch and British architecture over a much older trading history, this coast drew Arab, Chinese and European merchants for spices and gems long before any of them built a fort here. Galle Face Green's seafront promenade fills each evening with kite-flyers and street-food carts, while the National Museum holds one of the finest collections of Kandyan royal treasures anywhere. Ayurvedic wellness traditions run deep across the island, and wetland birdlife crowds the lagoons at the city's edge. A layered, unpretentious capital.

Sri Lanka's capital layers colonial Dutch and British architecture over a much older trading history, this coast drew Arab, Chinese and European merchants for spices and gems long before any of them built a fort here. Galle Face Green's seafront promenade fills each evening with kite-flyers and street-food carts, while the National Museum holds one of the finest collections of Kandyan royal treasures anywhere. Ayurvedic wellness traditions run deep across the island, and wetland birdlife crowds the lagoons at the city's edge. A layered, unpretentious capital.

Chinese fishing nets, cantilevered and unchanged since traders from the Ming court first strung them here six centuries ago, still dip into the harbor at Fort Kochi each evening. Kathakali dancers, Portuguese churches and a Jewish synagogue dating to the 1500s sit within a few streets of each other, testament to a port that has absorbed traders from every direction for a thousand years. Kerala's ayurvedic tradition runs deep here, genuine multi-day treatments rather than a spa-menu approximation, while backwater cruises reveal kingfishers and darters working the palm-lined canals. India's most layered, and most relaxed, port city.

Chinese fishing nets, cantilevered and unchanged since traders from the Ming court first strung them here six centuries ago, still dip into the harbor at Fort Kochi each evening. Kathakali dancers, Portuguese churches and a Jewish synagogue dating to the 1500s sit within a few streets of each other, testament to a port that has absorbed traders from every direction for a thousand years. Kerala's ayurvedic tradition runs deep here, genuine multi-day treatments rather than a spa-menu approximation, while backwater cruises reveal kingfishers and darters working the palm-lined canals. India's most layered, and most relaxed, port city.

Sun-drenched, palm-fringed and endlessly seductive, Goa blends Portuguese soul with tropical abandon. Wander the baroque churches of Old Goa, a UNESCO treasure, then lose an afternoon among whitewashed villas and fragrant spice plantations in the hinterland. Feni-fuelled beach shacks, prawn balchao and that famous susegad ease, it is India at its most laid-back and colourful. Palolem and Colva put the Arabian Sea at your feet before you toast the sunset with something cold.

Sun-drenched, palm-fringed and endlessly seductive, Goa blends Portuguese soul with tropical abandon. Wander the baroque churches of Old Goa, a UNESCO treasure, then lose an afternoon among whitewashed villas and fragrant spice plantations in the hinterland. Feni-fuelled beach shacks, prawn balchao and that famous susegad ease, it is India at its most laid-back and colourful. Palolem and Colva put the Arabian Sea at your feet before you toast the sunset with something cold.

India's dazzling maximum city assaults the senses in the best possible way. Sail in beneath the Gateway of India, tour the grand Victorian-Gothic and Art Deco waterfront, take a launch to the rock-cut Elephanta Caves, then dive into the dabbawalas, bazaars and street food of a metropolis that never pauses. SeaDream berths in the heart of the harbour, and being small means a swift, personal shore experience rather than a coach-bound scrum.