This year, Madagascar’s tourist scene reveals a gem, never seen before. Time +Tide Miavana is a magnificent private tropical island in the north east of Madagascar. Surrounded by sparkling turquoise waters, the island is one of five forming a small archipelago in a protected marine and wildlife area extending to about 15,000 hectares.
With just 14 one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas to choose from, each boasting wonderful views of the ocean and direct access to the beach and the sea, guests will have total privacy.
The villas are huge, open and beautifully designed with a fresh contemporary style. They all have an ensuite bathroom for each bedroom, a large lounge, a study which can become a children’s bedroom, a private deck with a pool, and a small kitchen. Every villa has its own electric buggy for getting around the island.
The main ‘piazza’ or village in Miavana has many attractions from the glittering infinity pool and rooftop bar, to your choice of private dining in the beach pizzeria, lounge or Italian-inspired indoor grotto and cellar.
Not to forget a “Cabinet of Curiosities,” in other words a mini-museum featuring regional artifacts like dinosaur bones and an elephant bird egg.
The activities on offer include lemur tracking on the mainland, snorkelling and diving on numerous reefs close the shore or further afield, and well as boat trips for seasonal whale, dolphin and manta ray watching. Depending on the time of year, guests might see turtles nesting or hatching, tern colonies, or some of the hundreds of endemic bird species on guided walks on the island and the mainland.
For the active, this is a good setting for kite surfing, sea kayaking, and paddle boarding.
The property took almost four years to construct, and its design is the latest project by noted South African architects Silvio Tech and Lesley Carstens — the same duo responsible for the coveted North Island resort in the Seychelles, renowned for being the honeymoon hotel of choice for royals William and Kate.