Luxury holidays in Benguerra Island

When to go

This tropical island is warm and sunny all year, but dry and cooler between April and September. It’s hottest and most humid from October until March. The mainland is much rainier, but expect showers in January and February. Cyclone season in the Indian Ocean is January to March; Mozambique isn’t in the belt, but they do occasionally hit.

Getting there

• Planes

  The main gateway is Johannesburg in South Africa; from here, it’s a two-hour flight to Vilanculos on the mainland and then a swift transfer over to the Bazaruto Archipelago. LAM (www.lam.co.mz) and Federal Air (www.fedair.com) have Vilanculos-bound flights, some of which stop – generally on Tuesdays and Fridays – to pick up passengers from the Kruger Mpumalanga International airport in Nelspruit. LAM also has flights from Maputo to Vilanculos.

• Automobiles

  There’s no way of getting a car onto the island, but most of the hotels have a selection of 4x4s for safari purposes.

• Taxis

  You’re more likely to see a rank of dugongs lining up to give you a ride than a black cab around here; all travel is arranged through your resort, most of which have their own fleet of wooden dhonis, speedboats and 4x4s.