Dreaming of a tropical island holiday that won’t break the bank or take hours to reach?
Consider Mozambique’s Inhaca island – located only 30km offshore from Maputo for an island holiday that will deliver beautiful beaches, warm waters and delicious seafood flavours.
Why Inhaca? Because this tropical island holiday delivers snorkeling and so much more:
Don’t worry about the weather
It is always a good time to visit Inhaca. The climate, much like the rest of sunny Mozambique, tends towards a warm tropical climate all year round.
For planning purposes, it would be worth a mention that April through to November is normally a more pleasant time to visit as the period from December to March can be very hot and humid.
Village life
If you enjoy a laidback, back-to-basics lifestyle, you’ll love the quaint village Inhaca which is a great spot to grab a beer and a hearty meal of gigantic prawns, piri-piri chicken and loads more. The only reason to protest will be when you get on the scale.
Looking for keepsakes and gifts? You will also find some lovely spots to shop for handmade curios, colourful sarongs and clothing. Just make sure you have some cash with you as card machines are not readily available on the island. With this said, also ensure that you either pay in the local currency or have some dollars or rands handy.
Get active
Inhaca offers a variety of water sports, such as kayaking, and water skiing. Big game fishing is also a popular activity, but Inhaca is mostly renowned for its snorkelling.
Those who love the thought of an underwater exploration, but are new to snorkelling will find the conditions in the inshore bay best suited to their needs. While the visibility may not be as good as on the offshore reefs, you will be treated to an underwater wonderland filled with varied and plentiful marine life.
The coral is predominantly hard coral with staghorn, plate coral and green coral trees. There are also large schools of moonies, moray eel, potato bass, barracuda and kingfish. Dolphins, whales, whale sharks and manta rays are also popular visitors during the summer months and game fish in the area include marlin, sailfish, tuna and dorado.
For more details on and snorkeling in Inhaca see our blog Legends, myths and diving
Birding
When its comes to bird-watching opportunities, Inhaca offers a variety of habitats which include woodlands, evergreen forests, grass plains and freshwater swamps, which are home to a wide variety of birds such as the Trumpeter hornbill, Golden Rumped Tinkerbird and Brimstone canary.
The marine habitats such as mud and sand flats and mangrove swamps are home to the Greater flamingo, Pink-backed pelicans, Grey herons and the rare Mangrove kingfisher. Just remember to have your camera ready!
