Things to do in Moheli
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Moheli
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season: least rain, calmer seas for boats and diving, and the easiest roads. The best all round window.
Green turtle nesting at Itsamia peaks in this window, highest around May, though turtles nest all year.
Humpback whales rest and calve in Moheli waters, overlapping the dry season.
Wet season: heavy rain, roughest seas, muddy paths, more mosquitoes and more transport disruption, with regional cyclone risk.
What's on
- Peak green turtle nesting at Itsamia March to August, peak May
Night walks with village guides to watch nesting green turtles on the protected Itsamia beaches.
- Humpback whale season July to October
Whales rest and calve in the sheltered marine park waters off Nioumachoua.
Best things to do in Moheli
Fomboni Market and Old Town Walk
A morning walk through the island's main town, its market, mosques and everyday streets, best with a local guide.
Great Mosque of Fomboni
The town's main Friday mosque, seen respectfully from outside on a Fomboni walk, dressed modestly.
Nioumachoua Beach
The beach at the marine park gateway village, by the lodges and the boat departure point.
Miringoni Beach
A quiet west coast village beach reached by road from Fomboni, with no services and local life at its edges.
Ylang-Ylang and Vanilla Farm Visit
A working farm and distillery visit for the flowers and vanilla pods that underpin the island economy.
Where to stay in Moheli
Nioumachoua
marine park base, boats, diving and turtle trips
The south coast gateway village to Moheli Marine Park, holding both main lodges and the boat departure point.
Fomboni
first or last night, town services and budget stays
The island's main town, with the market, the hospital, the airport road and its simplest hotel.
Itsamia
turtle nesting immersion
The south east village whose association protects the nesting beaches, stayed in for the turtles rather than for touring comfort.
Think twice about
- Overloaded inter island boats at any Moheli or Moroni jetty
Inter island boats can be overloaded, in poor condition and without life jackets, and overloaded vessels have capsized with significant loss of life. Refuse a boat that looks overloaded.
- Remote beaches and forest trails alone or after dark
No services, thin phone signal and very limited medical care on Moheli; go with a guide, tell your lodge where you are, and be back before dark.
Best restaurants in Moheli
Moheli Laka Lodge Restaurant
The island's most reliable table, Comorian and African dishes and fresh seafood at the lodge, ordered ahead.
Vanilla Lodge Moheli Restaurant
Lodge dining built on market ingredients and local seafood, eaten looking toward the marine park islets.
Le Relais de Singani Restaurant
Simple town dining at the Fomboni hotel, local dishes from whatever the market supplied that day.
Itsamia Village Meals
Home style Comorian meals arranged through the bungalows or your turtle guide, agreed and paid locally in cash.
Outdoor things to do in Moheli
Moheli Marine Park Snorkelling Boat Day
A small boat day in the 2001 marine park, snorkelling coral and seagrass with turtles and islet beach stops.
Chissioua Ouenefou
An uninhabited marine park islet for reef snorkelling and a deserted beach, reached only on an arranged boat day.
Scuba Diving in Moheli Marine Park
Expedition style reef diving in the marine park through the Laka Lodge dive base, in small groups.
Humpback Whale Watching
Boat trips from Nioumachoua to watch humpbacks resting and calving in sheltered waters, July to October.
Lac Dziani Boundouni
A Ramsar listed freshwater crater lake near Itsamia, visited for its birdlife and quiet crater setting.
Livingstone's Fruit Bat Forest Walk
A guided dusk walk to a forest roost of the critically endangered bat found only on Moheli and Anjouan.
Wallah Waterfalls
Waterfalls in the forested interior reached on foot with a local guide, usually on an island circuit day.
Best hotels in Moheli
Moheli Laka Lodge
The island's best known eco lodge on its own beach at Nioumachoua, with the marine park dive base.
Vanilla Lodge Moheli
The second south coast lodge, on the Route de Wallah, with islet views, sunsets and a local food restaurant.
Le Relais de Singani
A small simple hotel in Fomboni for a practical first or last night near town and the airport road.
Itsamia Village Bungalows
Simple community bungalows in the turtle village, putting the night nesting walk on your doorstep.
Is Moheli expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | KMF 15,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | KMF 35,000 a person |
| Splurge | KMF 60,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ylang-Ylang and Vanilla Farm Visit: a few days ahead
- Moheli Marine Park Snorkelling Boat Day: a few days ahead
- Chissioua Ouenefou: a few days ahead
- Scuba Diving in Moheli Marine Park: a few days ahead
- Humpback Whale Watching: a few days ahead
- Livingstone's Fruit Bat Forest Walk: a few days ahead
- Wallah Waterfalls: a few days ahead
- Moheli Laka Lodge: weeks ahead
- Book Laka Lodge or Vanilla Lodge Moheli well ahead; the island has only a handful of rooms at this level.
- Arrange the Itsamia turtle night and any dive days through your lodge before you arrive on Moheli.
- Change euros to Comorian francs in Moroni before flying to Moheli; there are very few banks or ATMs and cards are unreliable.
Is Moheli safe?
- Malaria is a risk all year; take antimalarial advice, use repellent and nets, and carry medical evacuation insurance.
- Alcohol in public is illegal, drug offences carry long sentences, and same sex activity is illegal with up to 5 years in prison.
Moheli travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Planning Moheli on a tight schedule; cancellations are normal and a fixed onward connection will break.
- Expecting a resort; there is no luxury tier, no restaurant strip and almost nothing bookable in an app.
- Boarding an inter island boat that looks overloaded because the next one is days away.
- Wearing beach clothes in towns and villages on a conservative Muslim island; cover shoulders and knees away from the lodge beach.
Getting around Moheli: public transport and more
- Fly Moroni to Bandar Es Salam airport near Fomboni on the few flights a week that run, reconfirm the day before, and keep at least one buffer day before any international flight.
- Use shared taxis or a lodge arranged car with driver on the island, agree every fare before you ride, and travel by day where you can.
- Marine park boats leave from Nioumachoua and are arranged through lodges or village guides, in cash.
Who Moheli suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | OK |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | OK |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Moheli your trip
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