Cruising by Catamaran
(costings based on 4 & 6 people sharing Adiva respectively)
Quite simply THE best way to experience the magic of the greater Nosy Be Archipelago – whether you're snorkelling, fishing, swimming or just cruising - so many of our guests report back that it was their "best holiday ever!"
Quite simply one of the best holidays that money can buy! You'll go home armed with memories that will last you a lifetime
Discover a new destination every day - each seemingly more beautiful than the last! And it represents great value when you consider that you effectively get a free excursion and deep sea fishing thrown in every day!
Fantastic snorkelling on pristine coral reefs (hopefully you'll be as lucky as we were and also swim alongside turtles!)
The fantastic crew make sure you can just get on with enjoying yourselves without having to barely lift a finger - they're wonderfully friendly hosts who know the area backwards and completely focussed on showing their guests a great time!
Superb dining with the freshest seafood being star of the show (and it tastes even more delicious if you caught it yourself!) - the chef came up with delicious meals time after time, all imaginatively presented and using the freshest ingredients (we ended up renaming our chef "The King of Sauces!")
Obviously your cabins aren't as spacious or luxurious as a hotel room - then again you really just sleep there (plus have you ever heard of a hotel room that takes you to a new beauty spot every day!)
Not cheap - then again when you consider everything that's included, it actually represents excellent value for money
Having to leave the boat at the end of your cruise - our party was literally in tears (and with regaining your "land legs" typically taking a few days, you'll wish you were back on your catamaran every time you feel the earth rolling under you!)
experience magnificent unspoilt scenery, superb white coral sand beaches, pristine coral reefs teeming with underwater life that are a snorkeller's dream, as well as the fantastic deep sea fishing that the area is famous for!
3 - 5 cabins depending on the specific catamaran
1 small jump and you're in the water!
Adiva has air-conditioned cabins - otherwise check the specific cat that catches your eye
Are you kidding? You're floating all the time on the biggest swimming pool of them all!
We have to confess that the actual main island of Nosy Be holds little attraction to us at Barefoot Breaks - we find the beaches generally mediocre and the resorts that have been built on them even more so. Instead it's the outlying islands north and south of Nosy Be that are the area's real treasure and which have far greater appeal. This is where you'll find the magnificent unspoilt scenery, the superb white coral sand beaches, the pristine coral reefs teeming with underwater life that are a snorkeller's dream, as well as the fantastic deep sea fishing that the area is famous for. You could of course go and stay at one of the island lodges dotted around the archipelago and get a taste of what's on offer, but what better way to discover the complete package than by cruising from one stunning area to the next on your own luxury catamaran!
We went cruising here with friends for a week a few years ago and we all agreed it was the best holiday any of us have ever experienced (and in the course of our business we've seen some great places as you can imagine!) - if you're a family or a group of friends wanting a real tropical adventure there's little to touch it! There are 2 very different types of cruises on offer: firstly the leisure cruises where you spend your days cruising from one beauty spot to the next, spending your days enjoying stunning snorkelling and swimming off deserted coral sand beaches whilst doing a little fishing along the way; or you get the hard-core deep-sea fishing cruises where you head off to fishing grounds not reachable by the daily deep sea boat operators from Nosy Be, and where you'll spend your days jigging and popping for seriously big GT's, sailies, yellowfin and dog tooth tuna as well as many different species of reef fish (a mate of ours who went recently reported that they caught more than 40 different species in the space of just a few days!)
The main catamaran that we've traditionally recommended to our clients is the stunning Adiva - a luxurious 53 foot cat with 5 double cabins and a lovely party deck where you can spend many happy hours lounging about shooting the breeze - operated by an excellent South African company Bossi Adventures (fishing groups often team the Adiva with Bossi's specialist fishing boat, the Joz Joz, to allow them to fish comfortably with 3 to 4 guys fishing on each boat by day and everyone sleeping on Adiva) But if Adiva isn't available or a bit too large for your group or perhaps too pricey for your budget, then there are a variety of other cats that you can choose from. We've recently been booking cats operated by the Nosy Be based cruising company called Madavoile who operate a diverse fleet of catamarans ranging from 41 feet to 56 feet in length - so you're pretty much guaranteed to find one that will fit the size and budget of your group - and the guest feedback has been hugely positive.