Safari to Nosy Ankao

the country’s highest quality lodge

Set off the far northeast coast of Madagascar, Nosy Ankao is a remote island which happens to be home to the country’s most luxurious lodge, Miavana, which is one of the leading beach retreats in the world.

Located around 80 km southeast of the main port of entry to the region at Diego Suarez, this place is really off the beaten track and only easily accessible by helicopter.

There’s a whole string of uninhabited tropical islands off this coast and, naturally, the owners of Miavana Lodge chose the most scenic one on which to locate their property.

Nosy Ankao measures around 2km by 3km, with a centre portion of tropical sand forest, broad white-sand beaches to the north and west, encircled by a coral lagoon and reefs.

The other small islands within the lagoon (including Nosy Manampaho, Nosy Ratsy and Nosy Satrana) are all much smaller and completely uninhabited.

The main island has long been used as a transient location for seasonal fisherman and smugglers.

Since 1998 a seaweed farming project has been started here. When that business failed in 2010, the island became available and was purchased by Time and Tide, who have since set about conserving the natural environment and have constructed Miavana.

From here it’s possible to visit various remote reserves and conservation projects in the region by helicopter.

The only way to visit Nosy Ankao is to stay at the incredible Miavana Lodge, which is by far the most upmarket property in Madagascar, with prices to match.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Nosy Ankao is generally considered to be during the Apr-Nov dry season.

The island experiences a tropical ocean climate, which is to say that it’s reliably hot and humid, but not as rainy as the main island.

The temperatures are relatively constant year round, with peak daytime temperatures around 28C/82F and nighttime temperatures a potentially uncomfortable 20C/68F. The relative humidity is around 85% year round, which doesn’t help.

The Apr-Nov period represents the dry season, with an average of 25mm/1′ of rain per month. Temperatures tend to be slightly lower and the prevailing conditions are very much sunny.

The Dec-Apr period represents the rainy season, with an average rainfall of around 200mm/8″ of rain per month, which is quite a lot. You can expect heavy and potentially continuous downpours every other day, although usually at night. There should be plenty of sunny weather in between. Temperatures are slightly higher.

Getting there

If you are planning to add Miavana onto a safari on mainland Africa, then there are two options …

The first option is to take scheduled flight services from Johannesburg or Nairobi into the international airport on Nosy Be, from where it’s a one hour transfer in one of the lodge’s helicopters, direct to the island.

By far the most convenient option is to use the owner’s private plane to fly directly from the safari areas to the international airport at Diego Suarez. This is most commonly done from sister properties such as Chinzombo, in the South Luangwa area of Zambia, with a flight time of 3.5hrs. Although the costs are extremely high, this routing does save you the best part of two days of travel.

If you are planning to add Miavana onto a wider exploration of Madagascar, then you can catch a scheduled flight from the capital Antananarivo to the town of Diego Suarez.

From Diego Suarez it’s a 30 minute helicopter ride to the island.

a wonderful range of marine and land activities