Nosy Be is a resort island in northwestern Madagascar.

Cities

• 1 Hell-Ville - Also known as Andoany, Hell-Ville is the main port town on the island, but most travelers will choose to stay on the island's beaches and avoid the bustle of this busy town.

Other destinations

• 1 Nosy Komba - This island is just south of Nosy Be and is significantly less developed, with no cars on the island and only a handful of smaller resorts.
• Nosy Tsarbanjina - This island is part of the Mitsio Islands, which are world famous for their scuba diving opportunities. Tsarbanjina is a private island that offers luxury accommodation to travelers with money to spare.
• 2 Nosy Tanikely - A tiny, uninhabited island southwest of Nosy Be, this marine sanctuary offers world-class snorkeling and is also popular with scuba divers.
• Lokobe National Park - a superb example of rainforest with all the amazing critters of Madagascar.
• Nosy Iranja - two islands at high tide and one at low tide separated by a 750 m sandy spit. An excursion that is a Must Do.
• Nosy Sakatia - a small island where charming local people will show you how to weave and make you a meal on the beach. There is also one place to scuba dive.

Understand

Accommodation in Nosy Be outside of Hell-ville can be very expensive (up to twice that of the mainland) and will often lack 21st century conveniences.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Fascene Airport (NOS  ^IATA) (northeast of the island). The airport has domestic and international flights. Taxis are available from the airport and can take you to all points on the island.  
  • Ethiopian Airlines fly from Africa, Aisa, Europe via Addis Ababa.
  • Airlink fly from Johannesburg.
  • Air Austral fly from Bangkok, Mauritius, Chennai and Europe via Réunion.
  • EWA Air fly from Dar es Salaam Tanzania via Dzaoudzi Mayotte.
  • Neos seasonal from Italy

By boat

• You can also travel to Nosy Be by taking a speedboat from Ankify port to Hell-Ville port (20,000 Ar, 45 min). Two car ferries will also take you from Hell-Ville to Ankify but these are much slower and only recommended if you have to take a car with you. You can also buy a ferry/bus combination ticket with Besady Plus all the way from Hell-Ville port to Antananarivo for 100,000 Ar. The taxi be fare from Ankify Port to Ambanja is 6000 Ar (1 h).

Get around

• There are taxis-brousses from 2,000 Ar per person.

See

There is so much to see and do in this area to include Tanikely Marine Reserve, Nosy Antsoa Lemur Island, Nosy Iranja, Nosy Komba, Lokobe National Park, Lemurland, the lakes and waterfalls, sacred trees and some amazing shopping.

Do

• Yacht Gecko (Crewed catamaran charter), ☏ +27845249706, info@madagascat.co.za. Fully crewed charters inclusive of catered meals, all activities, fuel. Fishing, snorkelling,and kayaking. Explore deserted beaches and uninhabited islands. Nice and steady so seasickness not a problem. Six nights minimum and minimum of three people. (updated Sep 2019)
• Maki Cat (Crewed catamaran Charter) A motorised catamaran for your exclusive us. Includes all meals, activities, fuel, fishing, snorkelling, scuba diving, all excursions. Six nights minimum. Minimum four people.
• Diving - there are many really good dive centres but the best would be at Sakatia Lodge on Nosy Sakatia.

Stay safe

While the area is extremely popular with tourists and generally quite safe, an ugly incident occurred in 2013 in which two Europeans were burnt to death by a mob due to a belief that the duo was responsible for the grisly murder of an eight-year-old boy. Following the incident, France and Italy issued travel warnings.