Nosy Be
Madagascar
A volcanic island off the north-west coast, with whale sharks offshore and ylang-ylang in the fields
Photo by David Bruyndonckx on Unsplash
Photos by David Bruyndonckx, Alessandro Zanini and Stefano Intintoli on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Madagascar
May to November (the dry season; whale sharks come towards its end)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 393mm in Jan
Where it is
13.40°S, 48.27°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Go out for whale sharks between October and December, with an operator that keeps the boats back and the swimmers few
- Snorkel Nosy Tanikely, where the turtles are on the reef a few metres from the beach
- Walk Lokobe with a local guide, the last of the island's original forest, reached by pirogue
- See the lemurs on Nosy Komba, then the village, and buy the embroidery there rather than on Nosy Be
- Watch the sunset from Mont Passot, and leave the lakes below it alone — they are sacred and have crocodiles
- Visit an ylang-ylang distillery and see what a tonne of flowers comes to
Nosy Be travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Madagascar
Mid-rangeHotels and dive centres quote in euros and the larger ones take cards; everything else — boats, tuk-tuks, the market, a beach restaurant — is ariary in cash. Euros change better than dollars. Excursions are cheaper booked on the beach than from a hotel desk, and the boat is the same.
ATMs & cards
The banks are in Hell-Ville, where BNI, BFV-SG and BOA have machines. Withdrawals are capped low and each one costs a fee, so draw a few days' worth at once and carry it carefully.
Avoid these
- assuming a beach village has a machine — the banks are in Hell-Ville
Use these instead
- BNI
- BFV-SG
- BOA (all in Hell-Ville)
Low limits and a fee per withdrawal, so draw several days at once. Euros in cash change at the banks and the bureaux in Hell-Ville.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Madagascar
Reasonably safeCalmer than the mainland and its cities, and the crime that reaches visitors is bag and phone theft, mostly on beaches after dark. The sea is the bigger question: excursion boats are often full and short of life jackets, so look before you board. The cyclone season runs roughly December to March and a storm closes the island's boats and flights for days. Malaria is present all year.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Ambatoloaka — the main street in the evening
- Hell-Ville — by day
- Madirokely
- Andilana
Worth more attention
- Ambatoloaka — the beach after dark, for bags and phones
- Excursion boats without enough life jackets, or one engine for a long crossing
- Mont Passot — the crater lakes below it, which are sacred, have crocodiles and are not for swimming
- The cyclone season, when boats stop running and flights can be cancelled for days
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Madagascar visa rules
Visa on arrivalup to 30 daysEUR 35, cash, at the airport
Issued on arrival at Ivato and Nosy Be for stays up to 30 days, and there is a separate 10 euro entry fee on top. Bring euros in cash — the card machine at the counter is regularly out of order.
Other passports
e-Visa requiredup to 30 daysEUR 35
How to get it: The e-visa at evisamada.gov.mg saves the queue but not the payment, which is still made at the airport. Carry the 35 euros and the 10 euro fee in cash regardless.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Madagascar
Evacuation likelyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies — strongly advised, because post-exposure treatment is hard to find here
- Malaria prophylaxis for the whole island
Getting treated
Poor, and this is the thing to plan around. Antananarivo has two or three private clinics that can stabilise; everything else is a flight to Réunion or South Africa. Evacuation insurance is not optional here, and a policy that covers a medical flight is what you are buying.
Malaria is present across the entire island all year, including the coast and the parks. Plague occurs in seasonal outbreaks on the plateau and is treatable if caught early. Do not drink the tap water, do not swim in fresh water, and take the rabies course before you come rather than looking for it after a bite.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodSeafood is the reason to eat out: grilled fish, prawns and langouste for a fraction of what they cost anywhere else, and akoho sy voanio, chicken in coconut, which is the north-west's dish. Hell-Ville's market has the vanilla, pepper and ylang-ylang that grow on the island.
Travel tipsNightlife
One strip: bars, a couple of clubs and a lot of rum along the beach road at Ambatoloaka, and early nights everywhere else on the island.
- Ambatoloaka — the bars and clubs along the beach road
- Madirokely — beach restaurants at sunset, a short walk from Ambatoloaka
- Hell-Ville — a few bars around the port, and little else
Closing: Midnight for most bars, later at the Ambatoloaka clubs at the weekend.
Take a tuk-tuk back rather than walking the beach at night.
Getting around
Limited- YangoWorks here
- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
Yango Antananarivo
- From the airport
- Ivato airport to the centre 60,000–100,000 Ar
- Against a taxi
- Cheaper than the cream-coloured taxis, which are negotiated and elderly.
Outside the capital there is no app. A driver for the day, or the taxi-brousse, is the country’s transport.
Time zone and your working day
Indian/Antananarivo — 7 hours ahead of you
1 hour of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–10:00 your time, 16:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 02:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 02:00–10:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Madagascar, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolut No local plan
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Malagasy
- HelloManao ahoanama-now OWN
- PleaseAzafadya-za-FAD
- Thank youMisaotrami-SOW-tra
- Yes / NoEny / TsiaEH-nee / TSEE
5 more phrases
- Excuse meAzafadya-za-FAD
- How much is it?Ohatrinona?oh-a-TRIN
- DeliciousMatsiroma-TSEE-roo
- SlowlyMora moraMOOR-a MOOR-a
- GoodbyeVelomave-LOOM
An Austronesian language, closest relatives in Borneo rather than in Africa, which is the first clue to where the island was settled from. French is the second language and English is limited outside the tourist trade.
Travel tipsReligion
Christian, layered over ancestral belief
About half Christian and almost everybody also holds to the ancestors. Famadihana, the turning of the bones, is a family reburial ceremony and is not a spectacle for visitors. Fady — local taboos about places, days, foods and directions — vary village to village and are followed by everyone, including your guide.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Ask about fady before you go anywhere with a guide — the local taboos differ village to village and are taken seriously
- Greet people before asking anything; the greeting is the transaction
- Ask before photographing anybody, and accept no for an answer
- Use both hands, or the right, when giving or receiving
Don't
- Do not point at a tomb, or at anything, with a straight finger — use a bent knuckle
- Do not discuss or photograph famadihana, the turning of the bones, uninvited
- Do not assume a fady is superstition to be argued with; it is the local law and your guide is bound by it
- Do not hand out sweets or money to children, which is a well-meant thing that has caused real damage
Where to stay in Nosy Be
No Holistay rentals in Nosy Be yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Nosy Be on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Fascene, Nosy Be NOS
20 minfrom the airport· 11 km as the crow flies
20 min to Hell-Ville; about half an hour to Ambatoloaka.
Also worth pricing: Ivato, Antananarivo TNR — the long-haul gateway, an hour and a half from Nosy Be by air.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
