Nosy Be – Island life, diving and beaches in

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
4
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
2
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
70 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
157th/454
Top 40%
continent
Africa
country
Madagascar
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$190 ($350-$850 in 2024 prices)
Time of year visited
November
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Islands Scuba diving Wildlife - Lemurs
All Tags
Beaches Boat trip Forests Hiking Lakes Local villages Snorkeling Wildlife - Sharks
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

Nestled up in the north of Madagascar and one of the country’s traditional highlights, Nosy Be (pronounced New Sea Bay) is well worth the visit because it has a relatively rare combination of:

✅ Tropical island style paradise + ✅ African vibe + ✅ good transport routes + ✅ safe

Very decent diving, nice national parks, beautiful beaches and enough island excursion trips nearby to justify staying for a week or so.  Its only major downside is the potential difficulty in getting there . . . this is Madagascar after all and often things can be a bit difficult.  So I’ve listed tips below to help manage expectations.

 

Nosey Be - chameleons in the jungle

 

Highlights to target for Nosey Be

IMG_2047-compressed-aspect-ratio-675-900

#1 The wildlife that seems to be everywhere - in this case a very inquisitive chameleon sat with his mates in a nearby tree. Seemed happy to climb onto us and have a selfie, the attention hoare that he was

Diving off Nosy Sakatia, Nosy Be Madagascar

#2 The diving - there are some beautiful spots all around the island, but our favourite were the spots off Nosy Sakatia

Nosy Komba, Nosy Be Madagascar

#3 Taking one of the boat day trips to explore some of the nearby islands with their villages on the beach. in this case Nosy Komba

Diving with turtles Nosy Sakatia, Nosey Be Madagascar

#4 Having an overnight on Nosy Sakatia - easily arranged by your hotel. In the evening you'll have the place to yourself, and throughout the day the flexibility to chose the best spot for snorkelling with the many many turtles eating the sea grass off the shore

Lemurs on a visit to the nature reserve on Nosy Komba, Nosy Be Madagascar

#5 Seeing the lemurs on a visit to the nature reserve on Nosy Komba. They're unfortunately / fortunately very familiar with humans, so expect a lot of attention. The brown lemurs in the photo were bloody brilliant

Black Lemur on Nosy Komba, Nosy Be Madagascar

#6 Seeing the far rarer Black Lemur on Nosy Komba

Hiking Mont Passot, Nosy Be Madagascar

#7 Hiking through parts of the island, in particular from Mont Passot, the highest point, back down to the west coast and via the various lakes in the centre. Don’t climb up it though - in the heat its ball-busting slog. Way nicer downhill

IMG_2455-compressed-aspect-ratio-900-675

#8 The pretty sunsets and generally chilled vibe of the north west of the island. Far less crowded and with some nice sunsets

The Magnificent Sea Anemone scuba diving, Nosy Be Madagascar

#9 The Magnificent Sea Anemone (I'm not expressing. That's their name) found only in the Indian Ocean. This photos isn't filtered - it is wild how bright they are

Whale Shark, Nosy Be Madagascar

#10 Getting the chance to see a Whale Shark. We were super lucky to see this glimpse of one while scuba diving (see in the videos for better view), but better chances are snorkelling late September to early December

Where is everything

What is there to do there

Paradise beaches and island advantures – take a day trip to Nosy Tanikely (for snorkelling) and Nosy Komba (black lemurs and local village). Also have lunch at Ampasoa on Nosy Sakatia – the restaurant / your hotel will arrange your boat trip (way better than a tour) and you can swim with the turtles eating the grass nearby.

Diving – visibility is a bit below average in November, but the marine life makes up for it. You’ll get a lot of soft coral, blue spotted stingray, big schools of fish and the chance to see whalesharks (we saw a glimpse of one while diving, which was rare, but cool).  We went with Aqua Diving and would recommend.  Aim to have a day diving in both the sites off Nosy Sakatia (Camel, Banc des Fusillier, Sakatia Cave and Banc de Licornes all great) and Nosy Tanikely.

A hike – hike from Mont Passot (tallest part of the island) to the west coast. Don’t climb up it – it’s quite a slog. Way nicer downhill and some great views along the way.

Getting a tuk tuk around parts of the island – Nosy Be has the best road in all of Madagascar circling it, so its good fun to grab a ride and just soak up the island vibe.

Sack off the towns – they’re gash. Lonely Planet acts like Hell-Ville is the highlight, what absolute nonsense.  We spent an afternoon in both Hell-Ville and Madirokely and wouldn’t recommend.

 

Where to stay

I’d recommend the North West because it’s a bit quieter, prettier and has beautiful sunsets.  We stayed at Villa TongaSoa and would really recommend – it’s a small guest house that has a gorgeous garden, easy walk to the beach and the owner Bernard is your own personal travel guide. Corail Noir nearby was also beautiful, if a more resort vibe.

Give yourself a night at Sakatia Island – it was a cool mini adventure heading over on there for just one night, and having the place largely to yourself after the day tourists have left.  The hotel (Ampasoa) will arrange everything for you), including a 5min boat trip to swim with the turtles.

 

Travel there – pros and cons

Nosey Be is pretty small so getting around is easy – you can get around pretty much anywhere in less than an hour as it has the best road in Madagascar.

It’s getting there that is the problem – if the flights work, no problem, but this is Madagascar – our flights there were delayed by 21 hours.  The other option is overland . . . which takes 2 days.  If coming to Madagascar, be prepared for a bit of a shit show at some point and you won’t be disappointed.

 

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The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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