Nosy Be, the Mitsio and Radama islands Holidays

The island of Nosy Be is easily accessible and the most popular area for a holiday in Madagascar. Drawn by the area's beaches, the beautiful sea, the prospect of island-hopping and good calibre accommodation, visitors come to enjoy all the ingredients for a beach holiday on an exotic tropical isle.

Nosy Be, which means Big Island, is a good choice as part of a family holiday in Madagascar. In addition to the sun, sea and sand, there are lemurs to watch in the Lokobe Reserve, colourful chameleons, the heady scent of ylang-ylang and vanilla, a market where you can purchase tropical spices, scenic sacred lakes, villages and forest – all within fairly easy reach of your hotel.

Formerly a sparsely populated outpost of the Boina Sakalava kingdom until the first half of the 19th century, Nosy Be is now a lively beach holiday hangout. The main beach sites are on the southwest coast, at Ambatoloaka and Madirokely, and along the west coast to Andilana. The former are busy, by Malagasy standards. On the west coast, from Djamanjary south, the beaches shelve too gradually for good swimming. 

The beaches of the north coast are lovely and still almost deserted, protected by the difficulty of access: it is a 20-minute boat journey from Andilana or a bumpy journey of up to an hour from the airport (through Sambirano forest) to the northern coast. There are good hotels here.

Nosy Komba

A pretty island a few kilometres from Nosy Be, Nosy Komba is best known for its Black lemurs. It is probably the most visited of the islands around Nosy Be - the day trip to see the lemur- watching site at Ampangorina is one of the most popular excursions from Nosy Be. We do have some misgivings about this excursion, because of the lemurs being too habituated. That said, they do generate revenue from tourism.

Anjiabe is an unspoiled village where people look at you with friendly curiosity. The standard of education in the local primary school is good. The beaches are clean and both owner-run hotels are small. Between the two is a cove from which you can snorkel. The habituated Black lemurs in the forest above are free and healthy. Coffee is cultivated and life goes on as it always has, in the tiny hamlets hidden in the forested slopes.

Nosy Tsarabanjina

Nosy Tsarabanjina is a private island 40 nautical miles northeast of Nosy Be, in the Mitsio Archipelago. It is a small and beautiful mountainous island, fringed by white sand beaches and encircled by coral reefs. Its luxuriant vegetation includes baobabs and pachypodium. You have a fair chance of sighting the critically endangered Madagascar fish eagle and the lovely Madagascar paradise flycatcher. Constance Tsarabanjina Lodge is a wonderful choice for honeymooners.  

Lokobe National Park

Lokobe National Park protects the last 740 hectares of Sambirano forest remaining on Nosy Be. The park includes an additional 122 hectares of marine habitat. Accessible by boat, the section of the forest we take guests into is on the periphery of the national park, where there are trails from 1km - 2. 25km and are graded as 'Easy'. Do note that trails inside the national park are more challenging.   Visitors come to Lokobe to seek its resident lemurs, notably the (Endangered) Black lemur (males are jet black and females are rich chestnut with whitish ear tufts) and also, two Critically Endangered nocturnal lemurs: Hawk's sportive lemur (aka Nosy Be sportive lemur) and Claire's mouse lemur.  Lokobe's herpetofauna includes some 35 reptile and 15 frog species. Visitors most often encounter Malagasy boa constrictor; Giant hog-nosed snake; colourful Panther chameleon and in the leaf litter, tiny Brookesia (leaf) chameleons and Brown mantella frogs.  Two species of Uroplatus - the remarkable Leaf-tailed geckos - are present: the bark-mimicking Henkel's leaf-tailed gecko may be spotted perfectly camouflaged against a tree trunk, while the much smaller, Spear-point leaf-tailed gecko looks just like a dead leaf. More than one species of the bright green Phelsuma 'day' gecko, inhabits the site.  Visits to Lokobe are operated as day excursions with lunch included and can be combined with a boat trip to the marine reserve island of Nosy Tanikely.

Nosy Tanikely Marine Reserve (Parc Marin Tanihely):

8.5km south-west of Hell-Ville, this 341- hectare marine national park is the most visited of Madagascar's protected areas. The small island of Tanikely (Tanihely) is uninhabited, and because the well- preserved coral formations around it offer some of the best snorkelling and scuba diving opportunities in Madagascar, the site does get busy. On Tanikely island itself, keep a lookout for Tropicbirds and Madagascar flying foxes (Fruit bats). The underwater world around Tanikely is spellbinding: most visitors see the likes of stingrays, clownfish, parrotfish, butterflyfish, angelfish and of course, green and hawksbill turtles.  Dolphins are regularly encountered, too. 

Activities

There is plenty to keep visitors occupied in this archipelago. For starters, ethically- managed Whale watching excursions are offered by reputable excursion operators from July - September. From September - December, we can also arrange for wildlife enthusiasts to swim with Whale sharks.

On Nosy Be itself, Ambaro Ranch offers horse rising excursions, catering for beginners and those of advanced ability. We visited their well-maintained stables and were impressed. And our guests have thoroughly enjoyed the excursions. 

Scuba divers would to best to choose the friendly Sakatia Lodge as a base, as it has what is arguably Madagascar's best diving centre. (NAUI). They offer a variety of diving courses, from Introduction courses to Advanced Diver, Dive Master, Nitrox Diver and Night Diving. With them, divers can enjoy exploring some 20 sites. The coral reefs around the Nosy Be archipelago are widely regarded as Madagascar's best.