The North of Madagascar is a paradise for who loves nature and wide spaces. Diégo Suarez (Antisiranana), an old French garrison and now the fourth city of Madagascar (ca. 100.000 inhabitants), is in the centre of a region that shows an incredible variety of landscapes bounded, in the west, from the Mozambico channel with the sea reservation of the Nosy Hara archipelago and, in the east, from the Indian Ocean (Bays Coast). Besides the extraordinary Diègo Suarez Bay, extended for 156 km, and spots of the west coast (Emerald Sea and Sakalava Bay), this region includes some very beautiful mountains: the Frenches’ Mountains that dominates the Frenches’ Bay where we can see a small island of karst formation in the centre (Pan di Zucchero), the Vulcan of Amber Mountains ‘s National Park, the Ankarana Special Reserve etc. | |
Besides of all that, Diègo Suarez is the most cosmopolitan city of Madagascar with its characteristic market where it’s possible to find typical objects of local handicraft with also product of fishing and agriculture.
Wind
The wind, a powerful trade wind (Varatraz), blows between 25 and 35 knots from April to November. | | Spot The Diégo Suarez region, besides a spot with flat water in front of Windsurfing Center (Frenches Bay) where you can make long board and freestyle under Pan Di Zucchero, offers also two important spots on the east coast of the island: Emerald Sea (Mer d’Emeraude) and Skalava Bay. The Emerald Sea, reached by boat and at 40 minutes from the Center, is a vast lagoon not too deep with warm clear water full of many colourful fishes that seems a natural aquarium. It’s a great spot for surfers of every level, with a wide zone downwind (wind side/side-on-shore) for racing and, for who loves waveriding, a zone with fantastic waves in front of the little island of Suarez. Sakalava Bay, in the south of Emerald Sea (about 18 km from Diégo Suarez), was the spot of the event “Madagascar Windsurf Challenge” in 2005 and 2006. This bay, completely closed by a reef, is formed of a long white sand beach (2.2 km) and two small islands. This fantastic sandy and not too deep lagoon offers perfect conditions for lovers of freeride while on the reef is possible to find good waves (1-2.5 m) for bump & jump. | | |
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Trips & Travels 
