Bazaruto Area

How to get there

Visiting Bazaruto is easy with a convenient morning flight from Durban to Vilankulo via Kruger Mpumalanga (July to January, not daily), or daily flights from Johannesburg to Vilankulo, which is known as the gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago.  Both these short flights culminate in what is surely one of the most scenic approaches for landing anywhere in the world as the islands and expansive saltwater flats greet you shortly before touchdown on Vilankulo International airport.  Visitors from non-SADC countries require a eVisa (non-Exempt Countries) /Electronic Travel Authorization (Exempt Countries) for entry, and this is obtainable online via www.evisa.gov.mz

Website Instructions:

1. Click on the “Apply now” section marked in a green block on the website.
2. Follow Online Instructions.
3. Payment can be made online.
4. Current exempt countries are Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UAE, UK and USA.  Kindly note that these can change without warning.  Kindly note citizens from these countries still have to apply for the Electronic Travel Authorization.

Items required for online application:

1. Passport-style photograph
2. Your round-trip flight tickets and copy of your reservation
3. Proof of financial means.  A copy of your credit card with numbers blanked out should suffice

Items to have on arrival:

1. Your passport with at least 6 month validity and 3 blank pages
2. Copy of your Electronic Travel Authorization/ E-Visa as applied for on the above website
3. Letter of invitation from Zimanga.  Kindly provide your full names and passport number on reservation so we can issue you with one
4. Cash to pay for the eVisa in small denominations as change is often in short supply

After clearing Customs and depending on which mode of transport you chose, a transfer vehicle will be waiting for a short ride through the colourful town and to the small-craft harbour where your boat will be waiting for the 25km (about 45 minute) boat ride across Vilankulo Bay, hopefully spotting turtles or dolphins along the way, or you can hop on a helicopter for a short 8 minute flight to a helipad a couple of hundred meters from the Lodge.

Airport vehicle transfers in Vilankulo are included in your Lodge Package.  It is very important to note that all return flights only route from Vilankulo to OR Tambo.

During rough ocean conditions the harbour can potentially be closed, necessitating helicopter transfers.  Kindly note heli transfers are not included in standard packages and would be for the guest’s account.  There is a landing pad not 300m from the lodge where the game viewer can collect you.

The Area

The Bazaruto Archipelago National Park is Mozambique’s oldest marine protected area, proclaimed as far back as 1971.  It spans more than 1400km2 and encompasses the northern islands of Bazaruto and Pansy Island, Santa Carolina (Paradise Island), Benguerra, Magaruque and the smaller Banque Island.  Each island has its own character but all have one thing in common with long stretches of white sandy beaches and warm waters in every colour of the blue spectrum.  This Park protects one of Africa’s Biodiversity Hotspots with thousands of species calling it home.

Apart from unhindered Park access, visitors to Zimanga have additional access to the private protected waters and wildlife of the neighbouring Mozambique Sanctuary and San Sebastián Coastal Reserve where the Lodge is situated, with its astonishing myriad of islands, sandbanks, mangrove channels, estuaries and terrestrial wildlife in the coastal forests and savannah.