The last resort: a chronicle of paradise, profit, and peril at the beach

I'm never coming home : Thailand and England

Where all passions combine : Monte Carlo, the Jersey Shore, and Cap d'Antibes

Among the very tall : Waikiki

Into far-flung places : Fiji

New frontiers, precarious business : Nicaragua and Senegal

Paradise lost (to overdevelopment) : Tulum, Ibiza, and Cancún

A global juggernaut : Vietnam and Portugal

The long haul to the high end : Sumba (Indonesia)

Beyond the sea : Barbados and St. Kitts

A tale of two islands : Bali and Nias (Indonesia)

Ghosts in the machine : Baiae, Rockaway, and Acapulco

Up to here : Miami Beach

Interlude : return to Railay

A better way : Tioman Island (Malaysia)

Sands of time : the future of the beach resort.