Anjiamarango Beach Resort

Anjiamarango Beach Resort is made for the kind of diving holiday where the sea is not an excursion but the view you keep returning to. Individual bungalows sit in more than three hectares of gardens, with coconut, mango, mandarin and tamarind trees around them, and the whole resort faces the water. The buildings use wood, local materials and Malagasy-inspired architecture rather than trying to look like an airport hotel with palm trees added afterwards.

Your day can be as active or as slow as you choose. The beach is private, the pool faces the sea, and the open-air lounge gives you somewhere to sit with a drink, a game of billiards or a baby-foot match when your legs have had enough of being useful. The website is available in English and French, which makes planning in advance straightforward; the languages spoken by the hotel team are not listed.

The resort is beside the small village of Befotaka, on the north-western tip of Nosy Be, Madagascar. It sits directly on the coast of Befotaka Bay, with a 500-metre stretch of fine sandy beach and the bungalows arranged along gentle slopes towards the sea. This is a coastal, tropical setting rather than a town-centre base, so the resort itself is where you come back to eat, swim and watch the light change over the bay.

Fascene Airport is around 6 miles away. Mount Passot is about 5 miles from the resort, while Restaurant Loulou is around 4.5 miles away by road; other listed restaurants are further afield. In practical terms, you have the sea at the end of the grounds and the island’s inland sights within reach by car or organised excursion, rather than a row of restaurants waiting outside the gate.

The accommodation consists of individual bungalows with private entrances, terraces and panoramic sea views. The Beach Front option is the natural choice if your priority is the shortest route from bed to sand; the Sea View bungalow gives you the same broad coastal outlook without making the view do all the work. Either way, these are proper rooms rather than glorified beach huts: wooden floors, a thatched roof, a seating area, a sofa, a dining area and a private bathroom with shower, hairdryer and toiletries.

A refrigerator is useful when you come back wanting cold water rather than conversation. Air conditioning or a fan helps after time in warm salt water, while the mosquito net is a welcome practical detail for nights in a tropical setting. There is also a safe, a wardrobe and extra-long beds. The terrace gives you somewhere to sit outside without having to turn the bed into a command centre.

Couples have the simplest decision: take the bungalow whose view matters most to you, then let the beach do the rest. Families have more room to manoeuvre, with bungalows arranged for parents and up to three children or teenagers, including a sofa that can serve as an additional sleeping area. Interconnected rooms are also available.

The restaurant works between French and Malagasy cooking, giving you a table that reflects both the island and the resort’s more familiar European influences. Breakfast is continental, gluten-free and buffet-style, with breakfast in the room also available. Special-diet menus can be requested, and the snack bar is there for the awkward gap between getting out of the water and sitting down to a proper meal.

There is one named bar: the Lounge Bar, upstairs from the restaurant. It stays open throughout the day until midnight, with house-prepared infused rums alongside alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The view reaches across the Mozambique Channel, and natural ventilation keeps the space suited to a slow drink rather than a hurried one.

When the dive appetite arrives on schedule, the resort also has room service, a minibar, an outdoor dining area and barbecue facilities. Billiards, baby-foot and the property’s only satellite television are all in the lounge bar, so the evening can remain pleasantly low-tech: eat, drink, take your turn, and leave the television to whoever still needs match results.

Two outdoor pools give you a choice without turning the afternoon into a tactical exercise. The main pool faces the sea, has generous dimensions and a depth of 1.30 metres, while the adjoining children’s pool keeps younger swimmers close by. Around them, sun loungers, umbrellas and pool or beach towels make the transition from water to horizontal fairly painless.

The beach runs for 500 metres and is made of fine sand, with a private beach area and loungers for each bungalow. Snorkelling is available from the resort, with a coral reef around 200 metres from the beach, and you can also take to the water by kayak, single canoe, windsurfing equipment or fishing trip. Boat excursions reach Nosy Fanihy, Nosy Komba, Nosy Tanikely and Nosy Iranja, while whale and whale-shark observation is among the outings available in the region.

On land, the menu is equally practical: bicycles, cycling, walking and hiking, with guided bike and walking tours, local-culture tours and inland outings. There is a fitness centre beside the souvenir shop, plus badminton, pétanque, billiards and baby-foot. Massages are available when the shoulders object to another active day, although there is no spa programme to plan around.

Fascene Airport is around 6 miles away, and an airport shuttle is available. The resort also offers a shuttle service and car hire, while the tour desk can help organise outings. Private check-in and check-out, luggage storage and currency exchange are available on site, which is useful when arrival, departure and boat days refuse to line up neatly.

Check-in runs from 07:00 to 21:00, and check-out from 06:00 to 20:00. Cash is the accepted payment method. Private parking is available on site without reservation, and WiFi is available free of charge. Daily housekeeping, laundry and ironing services are also available, with laundry and ironing arranged separately from the stay.

Children of any age are welcome. Cots and extra beds can be requested, subject to the accommodation option and availability. Pets are allowed, and the resort also provides pet bowls and baskets. For an early flight, the combination of early check-out, luggage storage and airport transfer is worth arranging before the fins are packed away.

The resort’s buildings use local materials and a deliberately Malagasy architectural style. The bungalows are built in wood and designed to sit within the surrounding landscape, with the development spread through gardens of coconut, mango, mandarin and tamarind trees.

That gives the place a more local architectural identity than a standard concrete block, while keeping the focus on the island’s vegetation and coastline. No environmental certification is listed.