Bazaruto Island Archipelago - Island Hopping Holidays

Island hopping by boat, helicopter and light aircraft
Privacy, Peace, Tranquility and Exclusivity

Further reading

Sun, tropical beaches fringed with coconut palm trees, exclusive luxury lodge accommodation, scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, peace and tranquility, awe inspiring natural beauty..... this is what you can expect from a holiday to the Bazaruto Islands. The ultimate tropical island getaway.

Warm water throughout the year, excellent visibility and biologically diverse coral reefs, Bazaruto is one of the best scuba diving locations in the world. Regular sightings of whale sharks, manta rays and turtles are highlights of  dives at spots such as Two-Mile reef and Africa reef.

The coral reefs around Bazaruto are home to more than one third of the total species occurring in the Indian Ocean, with unique coral structures and beds of Stag horn corals, brain corals and soft corals.

If you would like to do a scuba diving course while visiting Bazaruto, most of the lodges on the islands offer scuba diving courses and refresher courses.

In many places, the Bazaruto Island Archipelago is fringed by sandstone and beach rock reefs. This rock creates the perfect substrate for corals and other reef organisms to attach themselves onto. This, added with the very sheltered conditions around the islands allows coral reefs and the organisms associated with these reefs, to flourish.

The tidal differences in this part of the Indian ocean are great, with an average tidal difference at spring tides of 3.5 meters with a record 4.6 meters recorded at equinox. These tidal differences result in massive amounts of water flowing in and out to sea from behind the islands. In some places this allows you to drift effortlessly along the reef, and if you time it correctly, you can return to where you started with the current. At other places, this tidal surge can be very dangerous, carrying unsuspecting bathers, snorkelers and divers out into deep water or even out to sea.

We provide all scuba diving equipment.

Safety first, Bazaruto is a remote location.
Rule no.1 - Don't touch anything and don't step on the reef, corals are razor sharp.
 
Stay with you guide and take careful note of his/her instructions.
Tides and Current. When snorkeling the Bazaruto Archipelago for the first time, be sure to use a guide from the lodge in which you are accommodated. Before your snorkeling trip, check what the tides are doing and ask you guide what you can expect the water currents to do during the time you are snorkeling.

Jellyfish. If you see a jellyfish, just move away and don't touch it. There are no deadly jellyfish around the Bazaruto Islands.

Stonefish. If you don,t step on the reef at any time, you will never step on a Stonefish and it's lethal spine. Stonefish are well camouflaged and lie motionless on the reef. Do not walk in submerged rocky areas.

Rays. Rays do not harm you if you do not touch or step on them.

Sunburn. Bazaruto has a tropical climate and the sun burns all year round, from the moment it rises to the time it sets. When you are snorkeling, you are cool and you don't feel the effect of those harmful rays of the sun. Apply sunscreen/sunblock in the morning and reapply every 2-4 hours or more regularly if you are in and out of the water.

Drinking water. Ensure you take enough drinking water on you snorkeling excursions, at least 2l per person. Do not get dehydrated, but also ensure you are taking in enough electrolytes if you are drinking unusually large amounts of water.

Bazaruto Island Lodges have big game fishing charter boat. The tropical waters around the Bazaruto Islands are teeming with life, offering fantastic fishing for big game fishermen, targeting species such as Marlin, Sailfish, Barracuda, Wahoo, Tuna and Dorado.

Bazaruto Island fishing charters run on a daily basis and have all the fishing tackle and equipment to ensure you have the trip of a lifetime.

The Bazaruto Island Archipelago is situated off the east coast of Africa and is part of Mozambique. The easiest way to get to the Bazaruto Islands is to fly to O.R. Thambo airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. From there you catch a connecting flight to Vilanculos in Mozambique.

From Vilanculos we arrange all the transport to and between the islands. These transfers are by helicopter, light aircraft and by boat.

Holiday visas are required for a holiday in Mozambique. 30 day Visas are easily obtainable at customs at the Vilanculos airport. 

The Bazaruto Islands lie within the Eastern African Marine Eco region, situated between Somalia and the Cape Point in South Africa. The Bazaruto Islands, 5 in total, are situated within the tropical part of this eco region, 10 - 20km offshore, and are extremely rich with very a high biodiversity. The Bazaruto Archipelago is also home to the largest population of Dugongs (Dugong dugong) in the Indian Ocean, making the protection this area extremely important to ensure the survival of this rare and shy animal.

Ecologically, the Bazaruto Island Archipelago can be divided into 5 distinct zones namely the sandy beaches and sand flats, the seagrass beds, the intertidal rocky shores, mangrove swamps and the coral reefs.

The area on the west of the islands is very sheltered from winds and ocean swell, resulting in low energy conditions and the build-up of sand banks between deeper channels kept deep by tidal currents. These sand flats are covered in many areas by marine angiosperms and algae and are important areas for grazing bivalves which are an important part of the food chain, feeding many fish species such as the Spotted Grunter and Natal Stumpnose.

Four types of seagrass inhabit the sandy flats close to the Bazaruto Islands as well as along the mainland shore between Inhassorro and Vilanculos. These are Thalassiodendron ciliatum, Cymodocea rotunda, Halodule uninervis and Zostrea capensis.

These seagrass beds around Bazaruto act as important nursery areas for juvenile fish, provide grazing for marine mollusks and are the primary food source for the resident population of Dugongs.

The stable conditions of the beachrock allow for the prolific growth of corals and shelter for fish, invertebrates and marine angiosperms. The intertidal reefs also offer protection from ocean swell and protect the beaches and dunes from wave erosion.

The westward movement of the Bazaruto Islands has resulted in the original beachrock being submerged. Beachrock was formed when sand particles at the base of sand dunes were cemented together due to the calcium carbonate content from the sea shell fragments in the sand. As the sandy islands were moved westward by the prevailing winds, the beachrock was eroded to below sea level. Once these outcrops of rock became submerged, coral of many varieties could colonize the solid substrate to form well structured  coral reefs with very high biodiversity.

The coral reefs around the Bazaruto Island Archipelago are home to around 300 fish species and one third of all the species occurring in the Indian Ocean. Humpback whales and Southern Right Whales visit the area in the winter months during their annual migration to the Mozambique channel where the whales give birth to their calves in the winter months. Whale sharks and Manta are common and often congregate in large numbers at the southern end of the Bazaruto Archipelago, in the region of the Sao Sebastian Peninsula, particularly around 'Africa Reef', where they feed in the plankton rich waters flowing out from behind the island on an outgoing tide.