Helinirina Raharomanana – Madagascar Tours Guide
Cruise in a vezo canoe


- 7 days / 6 nights
- Toliara
- Minimum age: -10 years
- Availability: All year
- Toliara
- Maximum number of persons: 40
Cruise in a vezo canoe - Itinerary
Circuit : Ifaty – Ankasy – Tsiandamba– Salary – Andravony– Ambatomiloha – Bay of Assassins– Andavadaoka – The Islands Around Morombe – Morombe – Toliara
- Day 1 : Ifaty – Ankasy – Tsiandamba
- Day 2 : Tsiandamba – Salary – Andravony
- Day 3 : Andravony – Ambatomiloha – Bay of Assassins
- Day 4 : Bay of Assassins – Andavadaoka
- Day 5 & Day 6 : The Islands Around Morombe
- Day 7 : Morombe – Toliara
Cruise in a vezo canoe - Details of the itinerary
The Vezo, an ethnic group of the west coast and south of Madagascar, are a nomadic fishing people. Their life depends essentially on the sea, fishing and partially on tourism. Through this cruise in Vezo dugout, we take you in the country of the Vezo to know more about their fascinating culture, appreciate the beauty of this part of the island from Ifaty to Morombe.
For the first day of your Vezo canoe cruise, your Madagascar tours guide guide will take you to Ifaty to Tsiandamba through Ankasy.
Day 1 : Ifaty – Ankasy – Tsiandamba
Ifaty
Ifaty remains the most beautiful seaside destination in the south of Madagascar, located 25 km from Toliara. Very rich in sea beds in addition to its turquoise waters, Ifaty offers an idyllic setting with its wonderful lagoon bordered by a very long coral reef.
Cruise in a traditional Vezo canoe
You will be accompanied by your guide during the cruise in a traditional Vezo canoe. You will enjoy a walk in the sea and in the lagoon. It is an opportunity to discover the villages of the Vezo fishermen, their rhythm of life, their culture of fishermen… all this under the sun of the Malagasy south. You will then reach the village of Madiorano.
Madiorano
The village of Madiorano (the water is clean) which is located at 38 km from Toliara is a place of provisioning before going further. It is also a stop on a railroad line coming from Toliara. Madiorano is particularly known for the beauty of its lagoon, its beaches with fine sands which are irresistible tourist assets. After Madiorano, your guide will take you to Ankasy.
Ankasy
You will be surprised by the tranquility of the place where the only noise is that of the pirogues and the water. In Ankasy, the sunshine is almost permanent, which makes it a privileged destination in the Malagasy south. After admiring the idyllic setting of Ankasy, your guide will direct you to the charming village of Tsiandamba.
Tsiandamba
Tsiandamba is also a fishermen’s village that can be recognized by its white stone walls. The village also has a small market where you can buy food before resting. Its beautiful beaches are decorated by the presence of pirogues with splendid colors. You spend the night in this village before resuming your cruise in Vezo canoes.
Day 2 : Tsiandamba – Salary – Andravony
Salary
The next day, your guide welcomes you from your hotel to go to Salary. In the direction of Morondava, you follow the magnificent coastline with white sands and blue lagoon not far from the coral reef by crossing the mangroves. Because of the omnipresence of the sea, you can practice activities such as diving, canoeing, quad biking, snorkeling, discovering the Vezo people by visiting the surrounding villages…
Andravony
After Salary, your guide will direct you to Andravony and its famous big white dune which dominates the coastline by offering a magnificent panoramic view. Quad biking is one of the popular activities for raids in the baobab forest to the Bay of Assassins.
Forest of the Mikéa Tribes
During your cruise by Vezo canoe, discover the forests of the Mikéa Tribes, the last hunter-gatherer people of Madagascar. Led by your guide, you will meet this atypical population that is compared with the Pygmies of Africa because of their size and their way of life that deviates from any modernity. After this visit, you will be placed in a hotel in Andravony before leaving for Ambatomiloha.
Day 3 : Andravony – Ambatomiloha – Bay of Assassins
The 3rd day of your cruise in Vezo canoe, you leave Andravony for a small stopover in Ambatomilo.
Ambatomilo
Ambatomilo is a village of fishermen installed in an idyllic corner of the coast of Morombe. Its white dunes make it a paradisiacal place of the south of Madagascar. By making a stopover in Ambatomilo, you are on the third lagoon of the world with an exceptional view on the emerald and turquoise lagoon.
Bays of the Assassins
After Ambatomilo, your cruise continues towards the Bays of the Assassins near Andavadaoka. This locality is also marked by the presence of the fishermen’s village, immense fields of dunes, exceptional beaches as well as welcoming inhabitants. There, you can enjoy seafood specialties with fresh products, take a walk in the mangrove forest but also go fishing with the Vezo fishermen. Your visit to the Bays of the Assassins will end on the 4th day of your cruise by Vezo canoe. Your guide will take care of your hotel before joining Andavadaoka the next day.
Day 4 : Bay of Assassins – Andavadaoka
Andavadaoka
Accompanied by your guide, live a unique experience in a Vezo dugout canoe by crossing the lagoon protected by corals from the Bay of Assasins to Andavadaoka (the pierced rock), another village of the Vezo semi-nomadic fishermen. During this adventure, the Vezo pirogues teach you how to hunt for seafood with harpoons, picks or nets.
Baobab forest
Besides the beach, the lagoon, the fishing, Andavadaoka reserves you another surprise a little more inland. It is the paradise of Baobabs with exceptional forms called bottle trees which develop in the middle of thorny forests with a majority of euphorbias and other endemic plant species such as didieracées. In the evening of the 4th day, your guide will take you to the nearest hotel.
Day 5 & Day 6 : The Islands Around Morombe
The next day, you will be accompanied by your guide to tour the coral islets around Morombe. Among those to visit are Timpoy in the south, Nosy Lava, Nosy Be, Nosindolo and Nosy Andramona in the north. Because of the distance between these islets as well as the time necessary to better discover the beauty of these islets, this adventure will last two days.
Nosy Ve
Not to be confused with Nosy-Be, a coastal island near the northwest coast of Madagascar, the small island of Nosy Ve is located south of Nosindolo, and northwest of Morombe. It is a very small island not to be missed during your cruise in a Vezo canoe along the coasts of South-East Madagascar. It is surrounded in the southwest by Nosy Lava, in the south by Timpoy and in the northeast by the bay of Morombe. Before reaching Toliara, you will spend the night in one of the hotels in Morombe.
Day 7 : Morombe – Toliara
Andombiry
Back to Toliara, your guide will not fail to make you visit Andombiry, a place known for the biggest baobab of Madagascar which measures nearly 30 m in circumference. This giant of the southwest is called Tsitakakantsa which means that if you sing in one side of the baobab, you will not be heard in the other.
Bevoay Baobab Forest
Our arrival in Bevoay, a village located on the bank of the Mangoky River ? will mark the end of your cruise by Vezo canoe. In Bevoay, as its name indicates (many crocodiles), you will see some species and have the opportunity to taste their flesh with the inhabitants. Accompanied by your guide, you take the ferry to cross the river and enjoy a surprising view of the baobab forest.
Cruise in a vezo canoe - Extension
Toliara
Back in the city of Toliara, your guide will make you visit the inescapable places of the city of the sun.
Natural swimming pool of the Sarodrano cave
Enjoy a swim in the sacred cave 14 km from Toliara, in a beautiful fishing village of Sarodrano.
Dunes of Andaboy
Be sure to visit the irresistible desert beach dunes of Andaboy and take beautiful photos to immortalize your time in southern Madagascar.
Passage on the status of the Tropic of Capricorn
The passage on a stele marking the passage of the Tropic of Capricorn constitutes the essential of your visit in Toliara. All the visitors having passed by this site did not fail to take photos of memory there.
Visit of the city
Accompanied by your tourist guide, do not miss some interesting sites related to the history of the city of Toliara, among others, the protected area of Tsinjoriake, the Mahafaly museum, the mangrove of Ambondrolava…
Arboretum of Antsokay
It is a botanical park 12 km south-east of Toliara, a real little haven of peace especially for lovers of wild and endemic plants.
Village of St Augustin
37 km south of Toliara, a visit to this former refuge of pirates of the 16th and 17th centuries is a must. It is a fishing village surrounded by long cliffs eroded by the waters of the Onilahy River.
Pink Flamingo of the Lake Belalanda
By taking a walk in the mangrove with your guide, you will discover the avifauna of the mangroves. An opportunity to observe endemic birds of the region as well as pink flamingos.
Mangrove
On the track of the national road n°9 towards Ifaty, you will make a stroll in Vezo dugout to discover the villages of Ambondrolava and Belalanda and their complex ecosystems of mangrove. After the mangrove, heading to Anakao.
Anakao
Beach
The small fishermen’s village of Anakao is particularly well known for its quiet white sandy beaches and turquoise water lagoons, much appreciated by foreign visitors. Enjoy this haven of peace in a paradisiacal corner of the Malagasy south.
Diving
Besides the beach and the beautiful landscapes, Anakao also offers you a possibility of diving on a radius of 30 km. Discover Anakao in another way by diving in the caves located at 20 m depth. To finish the tour of Anakao, you will meet the fishermen’s village.
Village of the fishermen
The Vezo fishermen’s village of Anakao is the most famous of the region. You will live a particular atmosphere there at the time of their return of fishing or leave in excursion with the piroguiers Vezo.
Nosy Ve
Excursion and ride in a Vezo canoe for a day
It is a day of excursion and stroll at the rhythm of the traditional Vezo dugout from Nosy Ve. Leave in the lagoon in company of the Vezo piroguier to prepare your meals composed essentially of rice, fish with delicious sauces.
Nosy Satrana
Excursion and ride in a Vezo canoe for a day
An excursion to Nosy Satrana, the island of breathtaking beauty, located a dozen kilometers from Anakao is unmissable. From your hotel, on board a Vezo canoe, you will go along the coast through the lagoon meeting Vezo canoes that leave or return from fishing.