Princesse Bora Lodge

the best lodge on Nosy Boraha

Princesse Bora Lodge is located on the island of Nosy Boraha in the west of Madagascar.

Set on the southwest coast of the island, the lodge is centred on an elegant thatched main building, leading out to a long infinity swimming pool.

There is also an extensive Jungle Spa, which offers a wide range of treatments, often using fresh locally-gathered ingredients.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Princesse Bora Lodge is in twenty large villas set amongst the coconut palms. They are all built from natural materials and feature roofs of traditional ‘ravimpotsy’ thatch. All rooms have air-conditioning. They come in three different specifications …

Comfort Villas : At 55 square metres, the six Charm Villas are the smallest and lowest cost rooms, but are still very pleasant for two adults to share, with one large bed or two small beds. Each villa has a private verandah with a hammock.

Luxury Villas : Also 55 square metres, the Luxury Villas are similar in design, but have one large queen bed and two small beds on a mezzanine level which are suitable for children up to the age of 11 years old.

Executive Beach Villas : At 95 square metres, the five Executive Beach Villas are much larger and closer to the beach, with beautiful sunset views. They have a large king bed and one small bed for a child up to the age of 11 years old.

Activities

Princesse Bora Lodge provides access to the following very wide range of guided activities …

• Snorkelling
• Diving
• Wake-boarding
• Water-skiing
• Kite-surfing
• Whale-watching
• Quad-biking
• Mountain-biking
• Rock climbing
• Island nature walks
• Cultural visits

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.

Princesse Bora Lodge is situated immediately north of the small airport (which is not a big issue since there’s only a few small plane flights each day), from where it is a drive of around 5 minutes only.

accessed by air from the capital