Ponta do Ouro

Ponta do Ouro, literally ‘Tip (or Point) of Gold,’ is a family-friendly beach holiday town just north of the South African border. It’s the first of a succession of undulating sandy points that stud the vast, golden beach, which rolls unbroken to Inhaca Island.

Ponta Do Ouro is an 85km (53 mi) ribbon of sand and one of Mozambique’s most beautiful and pristine holiday destinations. ‘Ponta,’ as the town is affectionately known, is the most accessible and popular gateway into this slice of heaven.

Highlights

Ponta Do Ouro is a bit of a party town, especially during the Christmas and Easter holidays when it’s a firm favourite with visiting South Africans. It’s a long way off the famous party resorts of the Med, but expect lots of kids on the beach, lively campsite barbeques, and buzzing beach bars.

It’s a great place to go if you’re travelling solo in Mozambique or with a young family, though there’ll be more for the kids if they’re old enough to snorkel or take boat rides.

Ponta’s scuba diving is world-class, and the conditions for underwater photography are ideal. The water is warm and clear, and the offshore reefs are famous for their reef sharks, whale sharks, turtles, dolphins, and rays.

Travel Tips

• Ponta is a year-round beach holiday destination, but pick your dates with care for the best diving and snorkelling.
• Whales and whale sharks are most common between July and January, while shark cage diving season (a speciality in Ponta) runs from September to April.
• Dolphins, turtles, and rays can be seen throughout the year, but the summer months (November to March) are the most pleasant to be on a beach holiday.
• Until recently, Ponta could only be reached by 4×4, but a newly sealed road now runs to Maputo and South Africa. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the town, but if complete solitude is what you’re after, then there are some superb, quieter lodges just a short way up the coast.