Travel to Nampula

cool historic hotels and a remote beach lodges

The Nampula coastline runs for 700 km from Quelimane in the south to Pemba Town in the north.

Ilha de Mocambique

The main highlight is the fabulous and historic Ilha de Mocambique. Dating from 1499, Ilha was the original Portuguese settlement on this coast and the main entrepot for 400 years.

Covering just one square kilometre, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is still home to over a thousand people. The town is filled with historic buildings, many fallen into disrepair, whilst the narrow alleys are filled with local colour and commerce.

There are some very interesting small hotels on the island, notably the fabulous Terraco das Quitandas.

The island can also be accessed from the excellent Coral Lodge a little further north.

Nacala

Around 60 km north lies the important city of Nacala, a commercial port of little interest to most travellers.

The coastline to the north of the town is particularly renowned for excellent diving. This is the location of the excellent and dive-focused Nuarro Lodge.

The Napula section of the Mozambique coast is a lot less visited than the Bazaruto area further south and getting here is rather more complicated.

The usual stay duration is 4-7 nights.

Seasonality

The Nampula area is at its best during the May-Nov dry season, but there are good reasons to visit during other months.

Getting there

Access to both the Ilha de Mocambique and Nacala areas is usually by air from Johannesburg to the main airport at Nampula, some 160 km inland.

inconvenient access by air into Nampula