The lightly-developed resort villages of Ifaty and Mangily stand on the Baie de Ranobe close to Toliara, the main air gateway to southwest Madagascar. Here, calm reef-protected waters offer ideal swimming conditions at high tide, while the idyllic palm-lined beach is serviced by a few laidback seafood restaurants and bars. There’s also great snorkeling and diving on the coral reefs, and some fine birdwatching to be had in the surrounding spiny desert.  

Discover Ifaty-Mangily

The coral shelves that protect the Baie de Ranobe offer exceptional snorkeling and scuba diving. In addition to a dazzling array of colorful reef fish, moray eels and giant marine turtles are often seen.  Additionally Humpback and southern right whales migrate past Ifaty-Mangily from June to October, when they are often seen on motorboat safaris in Baie de Ranobe.

Mangily’s Réserve de Reniala protects a patch of pristine spiny forest studded with hundreds of giant baobab trees.

Les Village des Tortues is a breeding program for the two Critically Endangered species: the radiated tortoise, which can live for 200 years, and the smaller spider tortoise.

Ifaty-Mangily’s top birding site, Parc Musa offers guided excursions in search of the localized likes of sub-desert mesite, long-tailed ground-roller, running coua, green-capped coua and Lefresnaye’s vanga. 

The Arboretum d’Antsokay contains almost 1,000 indigenous plant species. A labelled self-guided botanical trail introduces some of the southwest’s more interesting plants. Night walks can be arranged to look for mouse lemurs, tenrecs and chameleons.