The best beaches in Madagascar, and when to go

Madagascar's best beaches are on its small islands and its dry south-west coast: Nosy Iranja and the islands around Nosy Be in the north-west, Île Sainte-Marie and Île aux Nattes in the east, and Ifaty and Anakao near Tulear. Which one suits you depends on the month. The south-west is dry almost all year and the north-west from about May to October, while Sainte-Marie is wet most of the year and driest from September to November. Cyclones are possible from November to April, mostly on the east and north coasts.

The beach usually comes last, after the forests and the long drives, and that's how we'd plan it. Four of our private trips end with days by the sea: both north trips on Nosy Be, the Eastern trip on Sainte-Marie and the Classic South at Ifaty.

Which coast in which month

Madagascar is big enough that some coast is usually dry. These are the World Meteorological Organization's averages for 1991 to 2020:

• The south-west: Ifaty, Anakao, Tulear. The driest coast. Tulear gets about 360 mm of rain a year, on about 30 days, mostly from December to March. Highs run from 28 °C in July to 33 °C from January to March.
• The north-west: Nosy Be and Nosy Iranja. Dry from May to October, at 20 to 35 mm a month, then properly wet: nearly 400 mm in January. Highs stay around 30 to 32 °C all year.
• The far north: Diego Suarez and Ramena. Dry and windy from April to November, with about 130 mm in December.
• The west: Morondava. Almost no rain from May to October, about 290 mm in January.
• The east: Sainte-Marie and Mahambo. Sainte-Marie and Toamasina each get about 3,200 mm a year, with rain on some 200 days. Sainte-Marie's driest months are September to November.

Canada's travel advice gives the cyclone season as November to April, worst from January to March. In those months we'd point you south-west, for the reasons in our cyclone season guide.

Nosy Iranja: the sandbar

Nosy Iranja is two small islands off the north-west coast, joined by a sandbar about 1.5 km long that surfaces at low tide. You walk from Nosy Iranja Be, which has a village, to tiny Nosy Iranja Kely, and at high tide the sand goes under. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches.

On our trips it's a day out by boat from Nosy Be. The 11-day Northern Madagascar trip gives it two full days for swimming and snorkelling. On the 12-day Northern Madagascar Adventure it's one day. We wouldn't choose Iranja specifically for whale watching: the records for the wider Nosy Be area don't establish it as a whale site. Go between May and October. Our Nosy Iranja guide covers the tides.

Nosy Be and the islands around it

Nosy Be's own beaches are pleasant rather than remarkable. Ambatoloaka is the busiest resort. Andilana, whose beaches face north, tends to have the clearest water, Rough Guides says, and the west-coast beaches have warm tidal lagoons behind a reef that is degraded in places.

The better water is around the small islands. Nosy Tanikely, a marine national park about 8.5 km south, is the usual snorkelling trip and gets busy in high season. Nosy Sakatia, about ten minutes by boat, has some of the most important turtle-nesting beaches around Nosy Be, and on our 12-day trip it's the snorkelling day: with a bit of luck you may find yourself swimming alongside sea turtles. Whale sharks usually visit from September to December. Avoid the island's crater lakes, where Nile crocodiles live. For the sea, ask for current advice about the beach and conditions.

Both north trips give Nosy Be four nights. It's under two hours by air from Antananarivo, so we can add it to the end of any of our trips. See our Nosy Be guide.

Ramena and the Emerald Sea, near Diego Suarez

Ramena is a fishing village 18 to 20 km from Diego Suarez, with about 3 km of white beach. Boats leave from it for the Emerald Sea, a shallow lagoon near the mouth of Diego's bay, where a clear sandy bottom turns the water emerald and turquoise. Organised trips usually include snorkelling gear and lunch on one of the small islands around it.

The Three Bays run from Ramena to Sakalava Bay, a walk of about 20 km. Our 11-day trip spends two days there and the 12-day trip one. The tourism office counts 95% of days from April to November as windy in the north, and from May to October the trade wind blows almost without a break. Ideal for kitesurfing, less so for lying still on the sand.

Ramena and the Emerald Sea aren't fixed days on our trips, but both leave your first afternoon in Diego free. Ask us about swapping a Three Bays day for the lagoon.

Mahambo, and where to swim on the east coast

Mahambo is a village north of Toamasina on the RN5, with a beach and reefs offshore. On the Eastern trip it's the night before the boat to Sainte-Marie, with the afternoon free on the beach.

It earns the stop because much of this coast is poor for swimming. Canada's travel advice says sharks are present, especially around Toamasina (Tamatave) and Manakara, and Rough Guides says to take local advice before swimming off Toamasina. Get current local advice before entering the water. A reef doesn't remove the risk of currents.

Ambatomilo and the remote west coast

North of Ifaty the coast empties out. Our Ultimate Madagascar Adventure spends four days on it: Belo sur Mer, a village of boat builders about 90 km south of Morondava, then remote tracks past dunes, mangroves and Vezo villages to Morombe, then two nights at Ambatomilo, a quiet beach with turquoise water and white sand, before Ifaty.

It's the hardest coast to reach. Belo sur Mer can be cut off by road for up to five months of the rains, which is one reason the Ultimate runs from May to November. The UK Foreign Office lists the west coast between Belo-sur-Tsiribihina and Tulear among the places where attacks have happened. Our safety guide has the detail, and the Ultimate can be shortened or split if you'd rather leave this stretch out.

Morondava: a base more than a beach

Morondava's broad white beach doubles as a working fishing beach and, Rough Guides says, an ad hoc toilet. Kimony, about 8 km north, is less spoilt. Come for the Avenue of the Baobabs at sunset, 15 to 19 km out of town, and treat the beach as a bonus. Our 5-day West trip starts and ends here, and the Avenue of the Baobabs guide covers the trees.

Which of our trips end on a beach

All are private, with your own vehicle and driver-guide, and can be reshaped.

• Northern Madagascar, 11 days, from €1,790 per adult. The most beach time: two days at the Three Bays and, after the Tsingy, four nights on Nosy Be with two days on Nosy Iranja.
• Northern Madagascar Adventure, 12 days, price on request. A day at the Three Bays and, to finish, Nosy Be, Nosy Sakatia and Nosy Iranja.
• Eastern Madagascar, 10 days, from €1,620. Rainforest and the Pangalanes, then Mahambo and three nights on Sainte-Marie.
• Classic South, 11 days, from €1,730. The RN7 to two nights at Ifaty, on the driest coast.

For a honeymoon built around one of these, see our honeymoon guide. Send your dates on the booking form or WhatsApp and we'll tell you honestly which coast suits them. A real person in Antananarivo replies, usually within 24 hours.

Photos: David Bruyndonckx, iAko Randrianarivelo, Antonio Sánchez and Marine Lacourie on Unsplash.