Gorgeous Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique

Seychelles and Mauritius are not the only island destinations of Africa, although they are the most famous of them all. Recently the Quirimbas Archipelago of Mozambique is gaining a lot of tourist interest because of its stunning scenic beauty, white sandy beaches and some of the riches corals in the world. These 27 islands in the Indian ocean located close to the regional capital of Pemba are one of the biggest tourist magnet of Mozambique and thousands of tourists flock these beautiful islands each year. There are some fishing settlements in a few of these islands but most of these islands are uninhabited which provides a great opportunity for the tourists to enjoy their unaltered natural goodness.

The water along these islands is what makes them a diver’s paradise as they are crystal clear, rich in marine life and coral reefs and some of diving sites provide a vertical drop offs of more than 400 meters. If you are flying from abroad then you will have to take a flight to Maputo the capital of Mozambique from which you can hire a car for making your journey to Pemba. There are quite a few tour operators in Pemba that can arrange a tour to the islands for you but if you are in no mood to spend extra on getting a helpful hand then head to the Pemba harbor and get yourself a seat on the ferry service that runs between Pemba and to the larger islands of the archipelago Ibo, Matemo, Quilela and Quirimba. The most visited island of all is the larger island of Ibo where other than the scenic beauty and exciting diving you get an added advantage of seeing the colonial era architecture of the 16^th century. The most famous being the 200 years old ghost town and the 16^th century forts that will provide you with an exciting historical ride. The Quirimbas Archipelago was a famous stop during the Arab and European colonization of the region and the Portuguese slave trader made Ibo the headquarter.

There are quite a few resorts on the larger islands of the archipelago that can provide you with decent facilities on a much lower price when you compare it to what you expect to pay in the resorts of Seychelles and Mauritius.  If you are a qualified scuba diver then you can hire the equipment and a boat from the resorts and indulge yourself in perhaps the most exciting diving of your life as the waters along the Quirimbas islands are full of marine and there are quite a few reefs that can be explored. If you are looking for absolute solitude then try to hire a yacht or a boat from your resort and head to one of the smaller islands in the archipelago which for the most time are uninhabited. The beaches of the islands provide an excellent setting for a relaxing vacation and you can find enough deserted places on these islands to take a full body tan.