Nosy Iranja: the sandbar island and how to visit

Nosy Iranja is a pair of small islands about 40 to 50 km south-west of Nosy Be, off Madagascar's north-west coast. At low tide a sandbar about 1.5 km long comes up between them and you can walk from one to the other. At high tide it's under water. The speedboat from Nosy Be takes roughly an hour to an hour and a half, so most people come for the day. Sea turtles nest on the smaller island, and May to October, the dry season, is the time to go.

Both of our north trips come here from a hotel on Nosy Be. The 11-day Northern Madagascar trip, from €1,790 per adult, gives it two full days. The 12-day Northern Madagascar Adventure, priced on request, gives it one. We wouldn't choose Iranja specifically for whales; studies of humpbacks around Nosy Be don't establish Iranja itself as a viewing site.

Two islands and a sandbar

The bigger island, Nosy Iranja Be, has a fishing village and a lighthouse on its high point. Nosy Iranja Kely (kely means "little" in Malagasy) is the small, wooded one, where researchers began counting turtle nests in 2000. Both are part of Ankivonjy, a marine protected area run with the local communities and recognised by the government in 2015.

Lonely Planet puts the sandbar at about 1.5 km, and some sources make it nearer 2 km. It's the reason most people make the trip, and it runs on the tide, not on the boat's timetable.

Day trip or a night on the island

A day trip is how almost everyone sees Nosy Iranja, and for most people it's enough. Boats leave Nosy Be in the morning and are usually back by late afternoon. Speedboats take roughly an hour to an hour and a half each way, and a slower boat or a choppy sea can stretch that towards two hours. Lunch is normally included. If you book one yourself on Nosy Be, check what's in the price: lunch, drinks, snorkel gear and any landing fee. The catch is the clock: you get whatever the tide is doing in those few hours, and you leave before the evening light.

A night changes that. The island is quieter once the day boats have gone, and the turtles nest after dark. There are a few places to stay, from simple beach bungalows to a lodge, but what's open changes from year to year. Neither of our set trips sleeps there, so if you'd like a night on the island, ask us and we'll look at what's open for your dates.

Our view: one well-timed day is plenty for most people. A night may suit a honeymoon (see our honeymoon guide). For turtle watching, ask first whether an authorised guided visit is available; staying overnight doesn't give permission to approach nesting beaches.

Turtles: when they nest, and your chances

Green turtles and hawksbills both nest here. Researchers counted 345 green turtle nests and 76 hawksbill nests on Nosy Iranja Kely between August 2000 and December 2004 (Bourjea and colleagues, 2007). The hawksbills matter because they rarely nest in this part of the Indian Ocean, and the Wildlife Conservation Society calls Nosy Iranja the most important green turtle nesting site in Madagascar.

Green turtles nest most from May to August, hawksbills from December to March. Both usually nest at night, so a day visitor is very unlikely to see one nesting. An authorised night visit may offer a chance, but access needs confirming with the local conservation team. If you do, stay well back, keep torches and flash off, and do what the local guide says. Snorkellers sometimes meet a turtle in the water, but nobody can promise one.

Snorkelling and the lighthouse walk

Off the beaches the water stays shallow for a long way, but shallow water still needs caution about currents and the tide. If the reef matters most to you, Nosy Tanikely, a marine national park south of Nosy Be, records 154 fish species and 110 kinds of coral. For other beaches, see the best beaches in Madagascar.

The lighthouse stands on the high point of Nosy Iranja Be, and the path up goes through the village, paved with stones in places and plain earth in others. It isn't a hard walk, but at midday it feels long, so go in the morning or late afternoon if you can. From the top you look down over the sandbar to the small island. Lighthouse lists date it to 1909. Don't rely on the often-repeated Eiffel attribution, which we couldn't verify.

When to go: rain and the sea crossing

From May to October, Nosy Be gets only 21 to 35 mm of rain a month, on three to five days (World Meteorological Organization averages, 1991 to 2020). That's the season we'd plan an Iranja day around. April and November get about 105 to 135 mm on nine or ten days: showery, but workable. December to March is properly wet, with nearly 400 mm in January, and the UK Foreign Office says cyclone season normally runs from November to April (more in our cyclone season guide).

The crossing is open water. The Foreign Office notes boat accidents in Madagascar caused by overcrowding, poor maintenance, poor crew training and unexpected squalls. Canada's advice adds: check there are life jackets for everyone, and don't board a boat that looks overloaded. A spare day on Nosy Be lets a boat day move if the sea is up.

• Humpback whales. A 2018 study recorded them in the wider Nosy Be area from late July to mid-October. It doesn't establish Iranja as a whale-watching site. If whales are the priority, ask about an appropriate location and operator separately. Madagascar's rules prohibit swimming with whales and set minimum approach distances.
• Whale sharks. Around Nosy Be, usually September to December.

For the rest of the island month by month, see the best time to visit Madagascar.