Safari to Nosy Boraha

a very strong location for marine activities

Set off the northeast coast of Madagascar, Nosy Boraha is a lovely tropical island, with beautiful sandy beaches and fringed by rich tropical reefs.

The island was previously known as Île Sainte-Marie and this old name is still often used by international travellers.

Historically this was a renowned pirate’s lair and is layered with all kinds of stories of treasure and fortune.

These days Nosy Boraha is best known for the humpback whales that frequent these waters Jul-Sep, as well as being a strong location for diving and kite-surfing.

Nosy Boraha tends not to feature in many trips, because it either loses out to the better known Nosy Be area, or guests have already visited wildlife areas which also contain beaches. But that in itself might be all the more reason to visit.

The usual stay duration is 3-7 nights.

Seasonality

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

The island experiences a tropical rainforest climate, which is to say that it’s reliably hot, humid and rainy.

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 Sep-Nov period represents the ‘dry’ season, although with an average of 125mm/5′ of rain per month, this would be considered rainy in most locations. However 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 400mm/16″ of rain per month, which is a lot. You can expect heavy and potentially continuous downpours every other day, but with plenty of sunny weather in between. Temperatures can soar Jan-Apr in particular.

The whale-watching season is Jul-Sep and the best season for kite-surfing is May-Sep.

Getting there

The only practical way to get to Nosy Boraha is by air from the capital Antananarivo.

Although on a map it might look quite feasible to drive along the east coast of the main island from Toamasina and then maybe get a boat across, this is one of the most infamous roads in Madagascar and really not to be taken lightly.

Where to stay

The island now has quite a large range of places to stay, but the vast majority of them are really too simple for us to recommend.

The only really decent option is the Princesse Bora Lodge, which is also the best base for most of the activities on the island.

accessed by air from the capital