With similar attractions to the better-known Bazaruto Archipelago (including superb snorkelling and diving), the remote Quirimbas – in particular Ibo Island – are also tangibly steeped in history
The Quirimba Archipelago consists of 32 small, beautiful islands strung along the Indian Ocean coastline between Pemba and Palma. In 2002, the most southerly 11 islands, together with a large tract of the facing mainland, were gazetted as the 7,506-square-kilometre Quirimbas National Park.
The islands are protrusions from what is effectively a vast fringing reef that runs along the Mozambican coast for hundreds of kilometres and incorporates some of the most pristine coral ecosystems in the Indian Ocean. With 375 species of reef fish recorded alongside dugong, five marine turtle species and several types of dolphin, whale and large shark, the snorkelling and diving is thrilling.