Tofo: A slice of heaven in Mozambique

Tofo, in South East Mozambique is legendary among people traveling in East Africa. When Mozambique is mentioned, Tofo is as well.  It’s enough to set the expectations high, but what Tofo does is live up to those expectations! Its beaches and waters overlooking the Indian Ocean are magical and are the main attraction in this small beach town.

Things to Do in Tofo

Diving: Tofo is a world famous diving destination and most people who visit come to scuba dive. If you are a diver or want to become one, Liquid is an outstanding dive center with great instructors and staff. They also have a beautiful pool and vegan restaurant that is amazing for hanging out. 

Whale Watching: Ocean Safaris where you go on a boat looking for Whales (depending on the season different kind of whales), dolphins, manta rays, etc. Diversity Scuba does great Ocean safaris.

Surfing: There are a few places to surf around Tofo including the main beach, Tofinho (nearby and bigger waves), and Barra (A bit further as well with bigger waves). The best place to rent a surfboard
is The Surf Shack as they have the best selection of boards, location, and instructors for lessons.

Yoga: Turtle Cove in Tofinho (next to Mozambeat) does morning and afternoon classes and has packages. Another option closer to the beach in Tofo is with Michelle of Casa Dhow.

Eating: Brancos has great pizza, Tofo Tofo has nice seafood and pastas, Sumi has sushi and Japanese Cuisine. Gato Laranja next to Pariango has fruit juices, smoothies and snacks. For cheap and tasty local food Mama Bea’s behind the fruit and vegetable market is excellent (Try the Pumba Special!).

Nightlife: Besides a drink in the restaurants in town, Mozambeat often has parties on Fridays. Dathonga usually has live music on Fridays and Sundays. Liquid sometimes do do documentary night on Thursdays as well as Tofo Scuba sometimes Quiz Night on Thursdays. Most nights people also gather for a drink or many by Victor’s next to the fruit and vegetable market.

Cultural: The Marine Megafauna Foundation offer cultural tours to villages among their work in conservation, and The Tofo Surf Club is a beautiful organization that works with the South African NGO, Surfers Not Street Children, to empower the local youth by teaching them to swim, surf and encourages them to stay in school.

How to get to Tofo?
If you are coming from Maputo (the capital of Mozambique) where most people arrive in the country, Tofo is 379 km/ 235 miles North along the coast. You can get there with public transport by taking a bus up to the city of Maxixe and then taking a ferry across to the city of Inhambane. From there you can take a mini bus around 40 minutes to Tofo. A nice alternative is a shuttle that runs every day Fatimas (that have a guesthouse in Maputo and one in Tofo), leaves around 4am and takes around 8 hours)

Where to Stay in Tofo?
There are two main places to stay, Tofo and Tofinho. Tofinho is around a 15 minute walk from the beach and maybe quieter than Tofo. Tofo is the main area around the beach.

A really beautiful and lovely place to stay is Turtle Cove.  It has a nice swimming pool, big green gardens, healthy and affordable food and has daily yoga classes.

For the best spot on the beach and closer to the action go to legendary Fatimas Nest. It is beautiful and one of the few locally owned places and has perhaps the best view and piece of the beach with dorms, nice bungalows. It is also a social enterprise that supports local projects such as orphanages.

Conclusion

Tofo lives up to its reputation as being so lovely that you never want to leave! I experienced it first hand as I ended up staying close to 6 weeks and was sad to leave! It has a lot of charm and is a place that is world famous as a destination to swim with whale sharks and and see humpback whales, (depending on the season), surf, or just enjoy life doing very little in this beautiful place.

Besides the beauty of the place is the great vibe here. Between the absolutely lovely locals to the expats that also fell in love with this place and decided to stay, you will find a lovely and welcoming community.

Addition al Information:

My amazing friend’s Ruan and Tehillah’s musical group, The Renegades
https://web.facebook.com/RewriteTheRules/?tn-str=k*F

Capulana, African prints
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capulana

The Marine Megafauna Foundation:
https://marinemegafaunafoundation.org/

Surfers Not Street Children
https://www.surfnotstreets.org/

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