Mozambique
“Two and a half thousand kilometres of Indian Ocean coast, and reefs almost nobody dives.”
Mozambique has one of the longest coastlines in Africa and some of the least-dived reefs in the Indian Ocean. Tofo has resident whale sharks and manta rays; the Bazaruto archipelago has dugongs and sandbank islands; the Quirimbas in the far north have the kind of empty coral islands that other countries would have covered in resorts. Inland, Gorongosa's restoration after the civil war is one of the great conservation stories.
The complication is the north. An Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado province has displaced hundreds of thousands of people since 2017 and most governments advise against all travel there, which includes the northern Quirimbas and the Pemba area at times. The southern and central coast — Maputo, Inhambane, Vilanculos, Bazaruto — is unaffected and is where nearly all visitors go, most of them driving up from South Africa.
Highlights
Tofo and Praia do Barra
Whale sharks year-round with a peak from October to March, resident manta rays at Manta Reef, and a long beach town that has been the country's backpacker and diving centre for two decades.
Bazaruto Archipelago
Five islands of enormous dunes and sandbanks off Vilanculos, protected as a national park, with one of the last viable dugong populations in the western Indian Ocean.
Ilha de Moçambique
A UNESCO-listed stone-and-macuti town on a coral island, capital of Portuguese East Africa for four centuries, connected to the mainland by a three-kilometre single-lane bridge.
Gorongosa National Park
The Rift Valley park whose wildlife was almost entirely destroyed in the civil war and has been rebuilt over two decades — one of the most ambitious restoration projects anywhere.
Entry requirements for Mozambique
Checking your passport…
We don't hold entry details for this passport group yet.
Before you fly
The detail
- Passport validity
- Most destinations want validity beyond your stay, and some want six months. Check yours against the return date.
- Onward travel
- Airlines may ask for a return or onward ticket at check-in.
- Health
- Malaria year-round nationwide and high-risk on the coast — prophylaxis is standard advice. Yellow fever certificate required from endemic countries. Cholera outbreaks follow floods. Medical facilities are limited outside Maputo; evacuation cover to South Africa is essential.
- Money
- The metical in cash for most things. South African rand is accepted near the border and US dollars at some lodges. ATMs in the cities and larger towns; cards work at hotels and dive centres but not much else. Carry cash for the coast.
When to go
BestMay–Oct. AvoidDec–Mar.
Dry season opens — warm days, calm sea.
The band above each month is our editorial verdict - it weighs crowds, prices and access as well as weather. The line is average daily temperature, the bars are monthly rainfall. Select a month for the figures. Climate figures: ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo, 2005–2024 normals.
What it costs
A day in Mozambique
Comfortable · sample day
≈ $86
Line items are real prices we track. The daily budget is an editorial estimate for this level, not their sum.
Where this sits among 244 countries we have costed
South African school holidays — December–January and Easter — fill the southern beaches and push rates up sharply. The rest of the year is quiet.
Updated Aug 2026 · Editorial synthesis — dive operator and lodge rate sampling (2025–2026) · confidence medium
Excludes international flights - they depend on where you fly from.
Regions to know
5Maputo and the south
The capital's Portuguese architecture and seafood, Ponta do Ouro's dolphins and the Maputo Special Reserve's elephants.
Inhambane and Tofo
The dive coast — whale sharks, manta rays, dhow harbours and the country's most relaxed beach scene.
Vilanculos and Bazaruto
Sandbank islands, dugongs, dune snorkelling trips and the main jumping-off point for the archipelago.
Central Mozambique
Beira, the Gorongosa restoration project and the Zambezi valley towards Tete.
The north
Ilha de Moçambique, Nampula and the Quirimbas archipelago — extraordinary and, in Cabo Delgado, currently under an active travel advisory.
Practical guide
Getting there
Maputo International has links to Johannesburg, Lisbon, Addis, Nairobi, Doha and Luanda. Vilanculos and Inhambane take domestic and regional flights. Overland from South Africa and Eswatini is the most common arrival for the southern beaches.
Getting around
LAM flies domestically but has a patchy reliability record. Chapa minibuses cover the country cheaply and slowly. The EN1 highway runs the length of the country and is variable — a 4x4 is needed for coastal access tracks. Dhow and speedboat transfers reach the islands.
Money & costs
The metical in cash for most things. South African rand is accepted near the border and US dollars at some lodges. ATMs in the cities and larger towns; cards work at hotels and dive centres but not much else. Carry cash for the coast.
Safety
Cabo Delgado carries an active conflict advisory. Elsewhere, petty theft in Maputo and Beira, and traffic police seeking informal payments on the EN1, are the everyday issues. Carry a certified copy of your passport rather than the original when out. Do not drive at night.
Health
Malaria year-round nationwide and high-risk on the coast — prophylaxis is standard advice. Yellow fever certificate required from endemic countries. Cholera outbreaks follow floods. Medical facilities are limited outside Maputo; evacuation cover to South Africa is essential.
SIM & internet
Vodacom, Tmcel and Movitel; SIMs need passport registration. 4G in cities and the main coastal towns; nothing on the islands or long stretches of the EN1.
Driving
Left-hand traffic. Vehicles must carry two reflective triangles, a reflective vest and reflective tape front and rear — these are checked and fined for. Speed traps on the EN1 are constant and the fines are real.
Rules change - verify with an official source before you rent.
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Before you go
MozambiqueFrequently asked questions
Is the north safe?
No. Cabo Delgado province has been the site of an armed insurgency since 2017, with attacks on towns and mass displacement. Governments advise against all travel to most of the province and against all but essential travel to neighbouring districts. The southern and central coast is unaffected — check the current advisory for exactly where the line falls before booking anything north of Nampula.
Can I drive up from South Africa?
Yes, and most visitors do. The Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border into Maputo and the Kosi Bay crossing to Ponta do Ouro are both busy. You need the vehicle registration papers, a letter of authority if the car is not yours or is financed, third-party insurance bought at the border, two reflective triangles and reflective tape front and rear. Police check for exactly those items.
When are the cyclones?
The rainy season runs November to April and cyclones make landfall most years, sometimes catastrophically — Idai in 2019 devastated Beira. The central coast is most exposed. Diving and beach travel are best from May to November, which is also the dry season.