Nosy Be – a tropical island paradise in Madagascar

Dreamy beaches, remote isolated islands, deep blue skies, opalescent waters, tropical wilds, cocoa plantations – enough to tempt you to visit the Nosy Be archipelago in the North of Madagascar? There are paradisiacal islands all over the Indian Ocean; but what makes Nosy be special is the combination of exquisite nature and civilization (meaning people). You can hide away on an isolated remote piece of heaven. But if your heart longs for breaks from loneliness – you have multiple options around! Enjoy the night life of Nosy Be, explore an exotic forest or visit one of the plantations – cocao, ylang ylang or sugarcane!

Nosy Be means “big island” in Malagasy. Walk through this island and scents of ylang ylang, coffee, cocao, vanilla, pepper and sugarcane float in the air. This gives the island the name “Nosy Mantira” – meaning ‘perfumed island’. Ylang Ylang is a flower used in the production of perfumes.

Nosy Be is the largest of the 20 odd islands in the namesake archipelago in North Madagascar. Each of these islands is a destination: exquisite resorts, snorkelling, diving, water sports or just a scenic indulgent experience!

 

What to do in Nosy Be?

Besides lounging on the golden beaches and getting a tan; there is a lot more you can experience in Nosy be.

1. Explore the Island of Nosy Be

For the adventurous soul, one viable option would be to hire a quad bike and explore the small island. Search for Crater lakes, waterfalls, hills and navigate miles of dirt tracks! Spots recommended for visit include – but do make your own itinerary!

Andilana: One of the popular local beaches on the northwest tip. A long stretch of clear white sand, ideally for swimming and slow-watching sunsets.

Mt Passot: Nosy Be’s highest point, northwest of the Island. It is a good spot for admiring sunsets and the sweeping panorama. Also a great spot to visit the Crater lakes.

 

2. Visit the Plantations and distilleries

While exploring Nosy Be, ensure you visit one of the ylang-ylang or vanilla plantations. Lemuria Land is one of them with its plantations on beautiful hillsides reaching out to the Mangroves on the sea. In addition, a visit to a cocoa plantation (also across on the Madagascar mainland beyond Ankify) would be a lesson in the origins of our favourite chocolate. And yes, also possible (and exciting) to visit one of the many Rhum distilleries on the island.

3. Explore the food and nightlife of Nosy Be

Come evening, if the peace of nature sounds too deafening, visit the villages of Ambataloaka or Hell-Ville on the Island for a vibrant atmosphere of restaurants and bars. Ending the day with Malagasy food washed down with Dzama rhum in one of the beach restaurants would be a perfect ending to a weary day! We recommend the Beach bar and Hotel Sarimonok in Ambataloaka village.

 

4. Active holidays: Water adventures

In such beautiful tropical islands, water adventures cannot be ignored. Start with a simple boat ride or ride in a pirogue across the pristine turquoise waters of the archipelago. For the swimmers, of course there are many options for snorkelling and deep-sea diving near the many islands around Nosy Be.

 

5. Fishing Trips

A fan of fishing in the high seas? Nosy Be offers ‘affordable’ opportunities to charter great boats for the ultimate sea-fishing experience. Fish for barracudas, yellow fin tuna, bonitos, various types of grouper, red snapper, shark, sailfish and Marlins as well!

6. Visit the remote islands

In my opinion, this is the highlight of a vacation in Nosy Be. Either stay in the many ‘affordable’ accommodations on the Nosy Be island and do day trips to these fascinating islands. Alternatively, if you can afford it – stay in one of the fancy exquisite resorts on private islands – all around! There are many options of boutique island hotels on islands like Nosy Komba and Nosy Mitsio. The Tsara Komba lodge (A Natgeo Unique lodge!) on Nosy Komba is one of the fabulous options for a memorable stay.

Check out our video blog on a day spent exploring the Islands of Nosy Be:

Some of the notable islands for day visits are:

1. Nosy Iranja

An hour away by speedboat, a visit to this place might sound ‘tedious’. But, mistake not, you don’t want to miss this simply beautiful island of creamy sands, coconut trees and magical turquoise waters! Wow!

There are two islands here – the larger Nosy Iranje Be (2 sq kms) and the smaller Nosy Iranja Kely (on which a private resort was being built). Both are connected at low tide by a 1.5 km long sandy beach. Walk slowly between the two islands for a tranquil experience of searching for beautiful sea-shells.

Better still, if you don’t mind staying in a basic hotel in a tropical paradise, stay at the Le Zahir lodge! I did not stay here – but one day, someday, will return back to Nosy Be and stay at Le Zahir lodge!! Definitely!!

2. Nosy Antsoa – the Island of Lemurs

This is a small piece of Paradise. Just off the Madagascar mainland, this island is used as a wild ‘rehabilitation’ centre for lemurs. While I am not aware of the details of this ‘program’, but the short trek to spot the White fronted Brown lemur and the Crowned sifaka was quite an experience! The small stretch of heavenly beach on this island is a pleasant break on the return from Nosy Iranja back to Nosy Be.

The residents of the Cocoa beach resort (opposite on the mainland – just about 500 mtrs away) have it so good! They can enjoy an evening watching the sunset from a secluded spot on the island.

3. Snorkelling spots

The Island of Nosy Tanikely offers a great day of adventure with some good easy snorkelling opportunities and a nice restaurant for lunch! Note that this island is a protected marine reserve and access deeper inside beyond the beach is prohibited. However, you can visit the lighthouse which offers magnificent 360-degree views. You are likely to spot lemurs, chameleons and the Comoro Skink (endemic to a few islands here) on the way or near the restaurant.

There are other islands also like Nosy Fainhy which offer snorkelling experiences. (however this island is sacred and actually setting foot on the island is prohibited).

4. Nosy Kamba (Island of Lemurs)

This is a largish island close to Nosy Be, which has some beautiful boutique resorts like the Jardine Vanille and Tsara Komba Lodge (fascinating with its own spot of beach paradise – A NatGeo Unique lodge). In addition, Nosy Komba offers great treks across the tropical forests – a great opportunity to spot the original residents of the Island of lemurs – especially the famous Black Lemur!

Nosy Komba is a popular day trip option – plan to be here early for the treks. Best if you can afford to stay at one of the lodges here, though! Basic information on the island is available here or a small dedicated site.

For the runners, there is an annual run called the Maki Run. Get details here.

5. Sacred Mountain – Akinvonjy

Akinvonjy is a mysterious island right arising straight and abruptly out of the blue ocean. A small tall island with absolutely no beach and barely a small rocky approach (if you can call it that), Akinvonjy is off limits for people. This island is sacred to the locals (animist faith followers). I was told that exploring the underwater caves on the edge of the island is possible for the extreme adventurers.

Local legend says that this island ‘moves’. My guide told me in a serious tone that the mountain has moved nearly 2 kms to its current position in the last 50 yeas. His ‘scientific’ explanation was something to do with the movement of the ocean plates! I have no way of checking on this story – for once google search failed to turn up anything on this! (a first for me!)

 

There are various other islands in this archipelago. Many of them are private islands with exotic resorts like Nosy Vorona or smaller villages with resorts like Nosy Mitsio and Nosy Sakatia. Many islands are prohibited for access like Nosy Tanga (only with the permission of the local Sakalava King) or Nosy Fainhy and of course, Akinvonjy.

7. Exotic Wild: Visit the Lokobe National Park

Just next to the busy tourist spot of Hell-ville, Parc National Lokobe (740 ha) is Nosy Be’s last area standing of primitive, pristine lowland rainforest. It protects most of Nosy Be’s remaining endemic flora and fauna. Though quite close, access to the park is possible by water (a rickety pirogue). The western side of the park rises vertiginously from the port at Hell-Ville to the highest point on the island (430m) – which is the reason, I suppose this piece of paradise has been isolated from ‘development’ so far.

The inaccessibility protects this last preserve of nature with species unique not only to the world, also as compared to the rest of Madagascar. And no doubt, this small area is still itching for discoveries of new species.

Wildlife of Lokobe

Famous as the home to the black lemur (the male is dark brown, almost black, while the female is a chestnut coloured), the Park also has other lemur species like the Sportive lemur and mouse lemur. Lokobe has more than 50 reptile species and almost 35 amphibians. Amongst the frogs in the park include Mantella ebenaui (endemic and found only in this region) and one of the smallest frogs in the world : Stumpffia pygmea. Explore the forest to discover chameleon species such as the beautiful panther chameleon, leaf chameleons and the rare Boettger’s chameleon (was thought to be extinct, thankfully re-discovered). In addition, find Plated lizards, leaf nosed snakes and the day geckos (bright green). Set a challenge to spot the well camouflaged leaf tailed geckos.

Lokobe shelters diverse species of endemic medicinal plants and thousand-year-old trees including a particularly fine range of palms. A notable one is the extremely rare endemic species, Dypsis ampasindavae (‘kindro’ in Malagasy), of which only thirty trees exist, most of them here.

Birds: Lokobe has 42 species of birds – 17 species of which are endemic such as the owl of Madagascar or the Malagasy kingfisher. There are nearly 100 species of butterflies as well

Lokobe is a true a nature lover’s paradise! If you have time on hand – consider living for a couple of days in the Nature lodge here! I unfortunately, did not find the time to visit Lokobe on my visit. But it is high on the list when I return to Nosy Be!

 

Lastly: I found these lovely paintings by a local artist. Unfortunately, I could not meet this artist to buy the paintings on the main island! Only managed these pictures!