The Indian Ocean has plenty of “glamorous” tropical islands, many “heaving” with luxury resorts. But the Bazaruto Archipelago, in southern Mozambique, feels different, said Stanley Stewart in the Financial Times.
It has no tarmacked roads, no yacht clubs, no shops full of “overpriced sunglasses”, and although there are six upmarket hotels spread across its five islands, they are “discreet and well-mannered”, with an easy connection to the life around them. During a recent visit, I stood on a beach on Benguerra, the second-largest island, watching the red sails of dhows tilting offshore, while fishermen counted their catch nearby and women with bright bundles on their heads walked past.
I stayed at three “delightful” resorts, all facing beaches of “squeaky clean” white sand. Azura Benguerra has 20 “spacious” thatched bungalows, all with private pools. Azura Marlin is “a more modernist creation,” with 10 villas and a “striking” blue-and-white colour scheme. The “star turn,” however, was Kisawa Sanctuary, with just eight villas. The resort’s palette of almond and straw-coloured tones echoes the dunes and forest around it, and there are many sophisticated design details, from elegant African baskets to sculptural baths.
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Lying 40 minutes by speedboat from the mainland, the islands feel like sandbanks adrift in the Mozambique Channel. Awake late at night, I could imagine myself on a ship, so pervasive was the murmur of the surf. Then, as dawn approached, the unfamiliar bird calls (the archipelago is home to more than 150 species) would carry me back to land.
The seas here are carefully protected, offering rich rewards to snorkellers and divers. I watched seahorses feeding in seagrass beds, and saw stingrays and a hawksbill turtle on Two Mile Reef. Sadly, I failed to spot a dugong, or sea cow, roughly 200 of which live around the islands.
Journeys by Design (journeysbydesign.com) has five nights at Azura Marlin from $4,486, or at Kisawa Sanctuary from $21,983.
