Serene, Stunning, Salary

 
Everything here is authentic, peaceful and sensuous: the stunning lagoon stretches as far as the eye can see, its turquoise waters fringed with white sand. Only the lapping of the waves and the gentle swish of the wind come to disturb the silence.
 
In Salary, people live with the rhythm of the tides and the Malagasy notion of mora moram, ‘slowly, slowly’, in harmony with nature.
Early in the morning, the famous Lakana Vezo outrigger dugouts sail into the lagoon and around noon, the fishermen bring in the day's catch. The sea and the beach are part of daily life here. There is also the spiny forest, home to the ethnic group of the Mikea, who are, unfortunately, highly endangered. They have no notion of time and live essentially by hunting and gathering, and also grow a yam called ‘Baboho’, which has spongy tubers full of water.

 

You can go diving with Fred from Salary Diving and also discover the Winterton, the wreck of an English ship that ran aground in 1972, or a Portuguese wreck from 1774 the Nossa Senhora, as well as Le Surprise, the wreck of an American ship from the early 20th century.
 
You can also visit the village of Salary on foot, walking through the school medical centre. A charitable association called ‘Les Enfants de Salary Bay’ has been set up, contributing to the local children’s education, healthcare, as well as environmental conservation.
 
The village and its long stretches of beach are also among the most beautiful backdrops for observing whales in
Madagascar. Conditions for whale-watching are ideal from July to September.
 
This article was featured in Prime Magazine April 2019

Useful Information

When to go

One of the advantages of Salary is that the region enjoys 330 days of sunshine per year, although the best period to visit is between March and November, when there is plenty of sun and low rainfall.

How to get there

From Tuléar, you can drive to Salary in a 4x4: the trip takes over three hours. Follow the road that runs along the Mozambique Channel, giving you spectacular views over the beautiful lagoon, semi-desert landscapes and the little Vezo fishing villages of Firenemasay, Tsiandamba and Tsifota, until you finally reach Salary.

Where to stay

Salary Bay is a boutique hotel situated on a 5km sandy beach. It has 10 bungalows, each measuring 75m² and perfectly integrated into the dunes. Every bungalow has a private veranda overlooking the emerald blue lagoon. There is also a villa for eight people, with swimming pool, running water and solar-generated power. La Sirena is a less luxury hotel, with five charming bungalows nestling among the dunes. Finally, there are a few small hotels, such as the Takaliro in the village of Salary Sud, or Chez Vivi in Salary Nord.

Where to eat

Here the menu will depend on the morning's catch: the products used to prepare your meals are guaranteed to be fresh: fish, lobster, crab, octopus and squid.

What to see

The lagoon of Salary Bay is teaming with life. Its specific characteristic is that the only boats are those of the Vezo fishermen, but also the fact that it has a unique coral structure consisting of three successive reefs, where hundreds of multi-coloured fish will come and eat out of your hand.