They’ve been dating for more than a year, but Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens proved their romance is hotter than ever during an ultra-romantic vacation on the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos.

The High School Musical sweethearts escaped to the island paradise on July 6, and stayed at the exclusive, secluded Amanyara Resort on Malcolm’s Road Beach, where villas go for up to $8,000 a night. “They looked like a happy young couple,” says a witness who saw the pair “laughing all the time” and frolicking on the hotel’s beach during their week-long stay.

Although Zac, 20, and Vanessa, 19, went away together to be alone, they were friendly to the other tourists who recognized them, including a bunch of young HSM fans. “They were nice to all of the kids who approached them,” a fellow vacationer reveals. “They were a very gracious couple.”

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