Scattered across 650 miles of the Indian Ocean, these tropical islands offer superb beaches, dramatic scenery and a benign climate.

Willie Mullins has described Boston Bob as a match for any novice he has ever brought to the Festival, which guarantees he will start a hot favourite for the Albert Bartlett Hurdle today. It would be no surprise to see him look a Gold Cup winner in the making, but the odds will be very short about a horse running on quick ground for the first time.

The waterman constable and the bogeyman

It's 2,000km long and home to a dazzling array of marine life – and the onshore options are just as vibrant, says Lonely Planet's Catherine Le Nevez.

Marine life facing mass extinction 'within one human generation' / State of seas 'much worse than we thought', says global panel of scientists

Getting lost in Venice is a cinch: all those labyrinthine, watery alleys. It's something else entirely to lose yourself in Venice and find that you have arrived in a dusty corner of Istanbul. This, however, is exactly the experience Mike Nelson, the first installation artist to officially represent Britain at the Venice Biennale, has created in the British Pavilion.

As Mozambique's tourist season gets under way, the industry will be hoping for an improvement in the country's fortune. Visitor numbers fell by 28 per cent last year, after hopes of a boost from the Fifa World Cup in South Africa failed to materialise, the global economic slump dragged on and food riots broke out in the southern African nation.

A coroner is urging the Government to review "gap year" adventure holiday companies' safety procedures, after 17-year-old Luke Molnar died on a conservation trip to Fiji.

They're the world's richest ecosystems. They're also the world's most threatened ecosystems. Why would you want to add to the risks now facing coral reefs, when you don't have to?

Hopes were raised over the future of the Pontin's holiday camp brand today after administrators confirmed they had received 10 offers for the chain.

I'm in Indonesia, on the island of Sulawesi, on a two-week trip to teach my daughter to scuba dive. I have a friend, Kaj, who is a scuba dive master and, whenever he moves to a new job we go and visit him. "You'll love this new place," he told me on Skype. "It's world-famous for muck diving and there are loads of weird creatures totally unique to here."