In Mozambique, Marine Conservation Has Helped Shape a Different Kind of Safari

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Few travelers realize that Mozambique possesses one of the longest and most beautiful coastlines in Africa—more than 1,500 miles of white sand beaches, lapped by UNESCO-protected waters that teem with dugongs and giant sharks, manta rays and whales. Hampered by a 15-year civil war, endemic corruption, and a devastating cyclone in 2019, it is one of the continent's least developed countries, with a tourism industry that far lags neighboring South Africa.

Eight years ago, though, Mozambique's Ministry of Tourism unveiled its Strategic Tourism Development Plan, which emphasized the need for new infrastructure and marine conservation. Meanwhile, scientists like Andrea Marshall, PhD, an American expat who cofounded the nonprofit Marine Megafauna Foundation, have been, as she puts it, “identifying areas to protect, studying animals and their behaviors, and building up communities dedicated to protecting those areas.”

One of the first hot spots to emerge from these twin impulses—to create ocean sanctuaries and develop tourism experiences around them—is the Bazaruto Archipelago, in southern Mozambique. There, the luxury resort andBeyond Benguerra Island partners with the conservation organization Oceans Without Borders on activities like a five-day adventure tagging key marine predator species. Elsewhere on Benguerra Island, the chic eco-resort Kisawa partners with the Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies to craft a range of experiences that educate guests on marine ecosystems.

Farther south is Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, Africa's first marine transfrontier conservation area, which links protected waters in Mozambique and South Africa. There, South African marine biologist Justin Blake, cofounder of NGO tour operator the RockHopper Fund, leads diving expeditions in which guests listen on live receivers for the pings of tagged sharks, which Blake calls “bloodhounds” for identifying critical marine habitats. The data helps RockHopper make decisions about where to focus its conservation efforts. “People are actively seeking out tours like ours, which follow a code of conduct,” he says. “They want to support marine research with their money.”

This article appeared in the July/August 2023 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.