Madagascar - Facts
- ALERT August 21st, 2024: Due to concerns over a multi-country outbreak of Cholera in the Indian Ocean, Madagscar is refusing entry to foreign yachts coming from a number of Indian Ocean countries. See the Clearance section for the latest details.
- Pre-Arrival Procedures: A Permit to enter must be applied for in advance of arrival. See the Clearance section for details.
- Madagascar is an island located in the western Indian Ocean. It lies off the east coast of Southern Africa and is located east of Mozambique, across the Mozambique Channel.
- Malagasy and French are the two official languages, but the former is more widely spoken. The population is about 25.5 million.
- The currency of the island is Malagasy Ariary (MGA). For details see General Info.
- Madagascar operates on East Africa Time (UTC +3).
- The country has a hot and subtropical climate with colder temperatures in the mountains. For specifics see the Weather section below.
- The most attractive ports and anchorages are on the northern tip of Madagascar, where Antsiranana (NE coast), formerly known as Diego Suarez, has a beautiful natural harbour. The old town has a cosmopolitan atmosphere with its mixed population of Malagasy, a melting pot of Indonesians, Malays, Arabs, Indians, Africans and Reunionese.
- Just opposite Antsiranana on the NW coast is the National Park of Nosy Hara which offers docking and repair facilities.
- Further down the NW coast is Madagascar’s prime attraction, the picturesque island of Nosy-Be, now a thriving tourist resort.
- Nosy Boraha (Ile Sainte Marie) is worth visiting, it is close to Toamasina, the country’s chief commercial harbour and main port of entry, on the Eastern coast of Madagascar. The latter is a good place to stop for yachts on passage to the Cape of Good Hope.
- Another interesting stop for southbound yachts is at Taolanaro, formerly Port Dauphin on the SE tip of the Island – the site of the first French settlement in the seventeenth century.
- The Scattered Islands, off the East of Madagascar and to the west in the Mozambique Channel, are French and under the jurisdiction of the Reunion Commissioner.
- Repair facilities are improving on the island at a number of locations. For more details of the yachting services available see Yachting Essentials.
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Due to concerns over a multi-country outbreak of Cholera in Indian Ocean countries, Madagascar has closed to foreign yachts coming from South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Comoros and Mayotte until further notice. It has been confirmed by contacts in Nosy Be, however, that yachts from South Africa are being permitted entry as long as a permit to enter has been obtained in advance. See the clearance section for details.
It should also be noted that E-visas are not acceptable for visiting yacht crew and a short-term visitor fee has to be purchased on arrival. See Immigration for more details.
If planning an Indian Ocean passage with ports of refuge, bear in mind that Madagascar still requires visiting yachts to have applied for a permit to enter in advance. This can take several weeks to obtain. Keep an eye on your spam folder.
Susan Harrison from Nosy Be reports that several boats were successful in obtaining permits last season coming from Tanzania, SA, Mayotte, Reunion, and Asia. All followed the procedure as outlined on Noonsite and were welcomed.
In the event of an emergency, Channel 16 is monitored in office hours by APMF, and the Navy should be monitoring 24/7. You should be permitted a 24 hour stopover to effect repairs, as Jeremy Horne was.
Nosy Be.
I had to divert into Nosy Be enroute to Mayotte from Seychelles with a technical problem. I arrived at the same time as another yacht, they had requested entry permission nearly two weeks before intended arrival, they had not received approval. Both I and the other yacht were refused entry, even though I had a technical problem!
Apparently there is only one person able to give authorisation, a Minister, he is often unavailable!
I do not recommend visiting Madagascar until they decide to change their approach to yachts!
Thanks Jeremy for reporting this – it seems nothing has changed then. Yes, a permit is required to enter and the process to get one is very complicated and my understanding is that you have to be persistent. See all info. here – https://www.noonsite.com/place/madagascar/view/clearance/. I have reached out to our contacts in Madagascar to find out the correct procedure for arrival in an emergency as clearly being turned away is not ideal.
Madagascar’s maritime borders still remain closed to yachts, however, with a newly appointed Minis-ter of Transport yachts may now make an application to enter in advance. Bryce of Catamaran “Lady Blue” reports; “Just wanted to let you know that we are currently in Sainte Marie, Madagascar. We arrived on the 10th of April and we plan to cruise towards Nosy Be while making a few stops underway (i.e. Diego Suarez). A few weeks before leaving Mauritius (last port of call) I wrote to APMF in order to request permission to enter into the territory of Madagascar. After 2 weeks of waiting time and me chasing, the local authority replied positively to my request and so we received the authorization letter. We are the only foreign yacht cruising in the area as of now.” Find out more at Madagascar Biosecurity. https://www.noonsite.com/place/madagascar/view/bio-security/#
I planned a visit to Port Dauphin in November 2022. There were rumours that despite Madagascar being recently open to flights and cruise ship visitors, that it was closed to private boating from abroad. We contacted the embassy in London to be told that they ‘are not aware of any restriction for visiting boats’.
We cancelled are visit however, after harbour staff in Le Port, La Reunion, said that we definitely could not go there (except in an emergency) and he said that he had spoken to several boats that had been refused access in the last month or so.
I just spoke to someone who had cause to seek shelter there for weather and was carefully monitored to prevent shore access and given a military escort away from the country when the weather improved.
The 30-day visa into Madagascar is no longer free. As far as we can tell we were treated fairly in all of our dealings with the officials when we cleared into Ambodifotatra.
First, we went to the police station who act as Immigration. The 30-day visa cost 115,000 Ariary each person. We paid this to the officer plus 40,000 for a taxi. He took the passports, and one copy of our two copies of the exit zarpe (clearance) from Réunion. We went back at the time he suggested the next day and he returned the passports with the visas attached. I don’t know where the copy of the Réunion exit paper went… he said it is no longer required.
We still DID have to go to Îsle Madame (the fishing harbour) to see the Customs office. This is well within walking distance for this old geezer. It is in the first building you come across, like an abandoned hotel. The office is in the west wing, access from the north, outside. There we filled in a crew list/boat info sheet of paper and paid 60,000. We asked him if it was really necessary to visit the Coast Guard office just 20 metres away to the west and while considering it finally said we should.
There at the Coast Guard, we paid another 60,000 and filled out another vessel and crew info sheet.
That is what is required to check in when asking for a 30-day visa. I’ll come back to post again when we check out domestically on Monday to tell you what we did.
The Madagascar relay station for the Peri-Peri net has now closed. Although no longer resident in Madagascar, Ex-Net Controllers Des and Nell Cason of SY Gambit are happy to offer advice to cruisers visiting the country. They have sailed this area extensively and welcome the opportunity to stay involved in the well being of fellow sailors. Contact them by E-mail at sygambit(at)Gmail(dot)com
Just a word of caution, we are in Deigo Suarez, Madagascar in the commercial port anchorage and had an intruder on our boat around 0200. He was trying to steal our portable generator. He had a knife and was able to cut the lines securing it before he was scared off the boat. He had a friend waiting for him in a small dugout outrigger. He also stole lines off the boat. So please be very careful here.