Anyone looking for a holiday home overseas wants sun, sea, sand – and money left to enjoy life once they get there. As the world’s coastlines become increasingly developed, choice expands; in recent years, British estate agents have begun marketing beach-side developments in exotic spots such as the Seychelles, Mauritius, Belize, Brazil, Réunion and Nicaragua. These emerging markets look set to become more popular, yet most British buyers continue to look to more established locations.

EUROPE

So, is it to be classic St Tropez, racy Monte Carlo or a little Greek island? Talk of a home by the sea and most people imagine locations such as these. Their ideal would be an infinity pool, steps to the beach, a boat at the pontoon and a view to die for. That dream can be yours – but only if you spend millions of pounds.

Most budgets are more modest. If you head to the Algarve, £300,000 can offer a soupçonof the millionaire life-style. Less densely developed than Spain, but with a sophisticated infra-structure, this part of Portugal has well-built properties and limits on the number and scale of new developments. For between £270,000 and £350,000, you can buy a one- or two-bedroom villa with a terrace in a private nature reserve at Quinta do Lago, a 20-minute drive from Faro airport and popular with well-heeled Brits, Brazilians and Portuguese. The racing driver Ayrton Senna once owned a villa there; Roy Keane, the Sunderland manager, still does (Quinta Properties, 00 351 289 396073, www.quintaproperty.com).

Heart set on the Med? If you are lucky, you can find a flat in the south of France with a panoramic view: a two-bedroom home overlooking the spectacular Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, is on sale for £287,600 with Riviera Bay Real Estate (00 33 6 60 75 95 00). It needs renovation – a flat in this location would normally cost £400,000 – but it is 30 seconds from the beach and has sea views.

There are still relatively unexplored locations in western Europe, one of which is Sardinia – but don’t expect it to remain a secret for long. Savills (020 7016 3740, www.savills.co.uk) has three- and four-bedroom villas on Costa Paradiso, in the northwest of the island, for £250,000; one- and two-bedroom flats start at £90,000.

Spain has a huge range of coastal properties and, thanks to recent market wobbles, prices have dropped by as much as 20% from their 2006 highs. A common problem in Spain is ensuring that your front-line flat with a glorious sea view does not have a development built in front of it the next year.

For Julian Lipman, a company director from Grantham, Lincolnshire, the solution was to buy right on the seafront in a quiet part of Tenerife.“We’re in a fine position, with only a footpath between us and the beach. Even the most ambitious Spanish builder couldn’t put something up to take our view,” says Lipman, who has spent several three-week holidays in the flat each year since he and his wife, Shirley, bought it for £250,000 in 2003.

A rival to Spain for volume of coastal properties is Cyprus, where villas and houses around Paphos and Limassol cost as little as £150,000. But the southern part of the island is heavily developed. The Turkish-occupied north is cheaper, but ownership issues remain a problem.

THE CARIBBEAN

The multimillion-pound villas of Cliff Richard and Tommy Hilfiger make this region seem like a celebrity haven, but choose the right island and you can get a modest taste of Caribbean bling.

For £270,000, you can get a beachfront flat on Barbados, while £311,500 will buy a small villa on the island’s west side (both with Savills). Be aware, though, that many Caribbean experts say it’s overcrowded. Grenada, meanwhile, is developing fast. Well served by air from Britain, it’s small enough to offer easy access to the beach from almost any location. A new Bovis scheme at Bacolet Bay, set in tropical gardens, has two-bedroom villas for £350,000 (01865 202700).

An overlooked island is Grand Cayman, which most people associate with £3m-plus properties. There are a lot of those, but for £326,000 you could get a recently renovated three-bed townhouse in Windsor Village, a gated development with a communal pool, near the prestigious Smith Cove beach (Knight Frank; 020 7629 8171, www.knightfrank.com).

“On Barbados and Cayman, bigger homes aren’t selling that well. More flats or townhouses in the £300,000 bracket are likely to be built,” predicts Julian Cunningham, an international negotiator with Knight Frank.

The Dominican Republic is an alternative for those on a budget. Paul Percival, who runs an upholstery business in Caerphilly, south Wales, paid £275,000 for a two-bed cabana at Las Canas, a beach resort on the north coast, 30 minutes’ drive from Puerto Plata airport. He was impressed by the rapid improvements to the infrastruc-ture and air links. “From my research, it would have been hard to have bought in such a prime location at this price elsewhere in the Caribbean or in most of coastal Europe,” he says.

The Cricket World Cup did not bring the tourists or buyers some hoped for, so there are bargains to be found on the less favoured coasts of some islands. Buccament Bay, on St Vincent, is a seafront development with a choice of new and resale one-bed flats; from £175,000, with Harlequin Property (0800 0820404, www. harlequinproperty.co.uk).

ASIA

If you have to endure a 12-or 14-hour flight to your holiday home, you will want it to be different from anything you could get on the Med.

Thailand, the most popular holiday-home haven in Asia, offers a unique cocktail of hedonism, Buddhism and a rich mix of properties. Flats near the crowded beaches and ladyboy bars at Patong, on Phuket, cost £100,000.

If you fancy for something a bit quieter, Claire Brown Realty (www.clairebrownrealty.com) has flats in the Cove, a beachfront development in Krabi, in southwest Thailand, from £78,000.

But there are clouds on the horizon: since last September’s coup, the military rulers have been rigidly enforcing rules that oblige foreigners to set up a “shell” company with Thai nationals to buy a property. Some foreign owners have found it hard to get their rental income out of the country.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore is an unusual alternative. After flatlining for years, prices are now going up. For £350,000, you could buy a three-bedroom flat in a good-quality condo-minium with a concierge and a pool (00 65 6451 7849, www.itrealtor.com). For those with less to spend, the new Nexus Residence resort, on the Malaysian island of Borneo, has two-bedroom villas from £145,000 (01865 202700, www.propertyfrontiers.com).

Then there is the Indian state of Goa, one of Asia’s lowest-priced holiday-home locations. Of its 75 miles of coastline, 50 are beach. While you would struggle to find a flat for £135,000 in many countries, the same money would buy you a six-bedroom townhouse in the state (Chris Gregory & Co; 0845 803 7978).

SOUTH AFRICA

It’s just two hours ahead of GMT, property prices are low by British standards, the pound is strong against the rand and the agents are familiar names (Savills, Engel & Völkers and Sotheby’s dominate), so it is hardly surprising that Britons look to South Africa. For £252,000, you can get an architect-designed house with a large open-plan living area and terraces with views to the sea and mountains, through Pam Golding (020 7824 9088, www.pamgolding.co.za). Prices have risen by 15.5% in the past year, according to a leading South African index, the ABSA, after 30%-plus rises in 2003 and 2004. Even so, you get more property and land for your money than in most areas of the world, and the vast landscapes of the coastal Cape remain largely unspoilt.

On the waterfront

France:This two-bedroom, one-storey villa in Provence is a short walk from the sea. In a residential area in the pretty coastal town of Fréjus, it has a mature walled garden and a cellar, and is for sale for £251,377, with VEF; 020 7515 8660, www.vefuk.com

Barbados:The 30-villa complex at the five-star Schooner Bay resort, near Speightstown, on the west coast of the island, gives buyers access to a golf course, tennis, diving and sailing facilities. Prices start at £306,627 for a one-bedroom flat, with Caribbean Dreams Property; 01708 223877, www.caribbeandreamsproperty.com

Borneo: Due for completion in 2008, the Nexus development offers beachfront villas lining four miles of private beach. Prices start at £113,000 for a one-bed spa villa, with Property Frontiers; 01865 202700, www.propertyfrontiers.com

South Africa: Near the Fernkloof Nature Reserve, in Hermanus, a 1½hour drive from Cape Town, this three-bed villa has an open-plan living and dining area, a garden and a double garage. It is for sale for £215,000 with Engel & Volkers, 00 27 82 535 9126, www.engelvoelkers.co.za

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