Bazaruto Area

How to get there

Visiting Bazaruto is easy with a daily morning flight from Durban to Vilankulo via Kruger Mpumalanga, and twice 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 certain countries require a Visa for entry, and this is obtainable online via www.evisa.gov.mz

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

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.