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Home / Madagascar / Nosy Be

Island & sea · Madagascar

Nosy Be

Madagascar's island paradise — reef, rainforest pockets, and the lemurs of Lokobe.

Getting there

Direct flights from Antananarivo to Nosy Be (NOS)

Best for

Beach and reef, snorkelling and diving, whale sharks (season), Lokobe lemurs

The land

A volcanic island of beaches and forest off the northwest coast

Good to know

Whale sharks visit roughly October–December; the Lokobe reserve holds black lemurs

What it is

Nosy Be is the island finale — turquoise sea and reef, with a pocket of rainforest and black lemurs at Lokobe.

Off the northwest coast, Nosy Be is Madagascar's beach-and-reef island — snorkelling, diving and dhow trips around a scatter of islets, seasonal whale sharks, and the Lokobe reserve where black lemurs and chameleons live in the last coastal forest.

The reason to come

Reef, islands and lemurs

Nosy Be balances pure beach with just enough wildlife to keep it a Madagascar trip.

Island-hopping

Dhow and boat trips to reef-fringed islets.

Whale sharks

Snorkelling alongside them in season (roughly Oct–Dec).

Lokobe lemurs

Black lemurs and chameleons in the coastal forest.

Worth knowing

The island reward

After the forests and the Tsingy, Nosy Be is the sea-and-sand finale — with a last hit of wildlife.

When to come — honestly

A long, sunny season.

April – December

Best

Dry, sunny and calm seas; whale sharks Oct–Dec.

January – March

Good

Hotter and wetter, with occasional cyclonic weather.

Best April–December; January–March is hotter and wetter with some cyclone risk.

Context

Beach with a wild edge

Nosy Be is where a Madagascar journey unwinds — reef, beach and island-hopping, with Lokobe keeping a foot in the wildlife.

It rounds off the northern circuit after Diego Suarez and Ankarana.

Beyond the obvious

More to Nosy Be.

Reef snorkel & dive

Coral gardens and reef life around the islets.

Whale sharks

In season, off the island.

Lokobe forest

Black lemurs and chameleons by pirogue.

Why Wild Voyager

We know how to make Madagascar work.

Madagascar is a country of regional hops, seasonal access and specialist guides. We sequence the route, time the dry-season roads, and pair you with the naturalists who find the wildlife.