Belo sur Mer

Belo sur Mer is a Vezo fishing village on a shallow bay backed by salt pans and dry forest, and its distinction is boatbuilding: the botry, wooden cargo schooners that still carry freight along this coast, are built here on the open beach without plans, shaped by eye by carpenters working from inherited practice. Hulls in every stage of construction stand above the tideline, which is the reason most visitors make the difficult journey. Beyond that the village is quiet, with salt production, fishing pirogues under sail, and mangrove and reef offshore. Accommodation is a handful of small lodges. The track from Morondava crosses rivers and is impassable in the wet season, so many arrive by boat, which takes several hours along the coast.

What you actually see

• Schooner building - wooden botry hulls under construction on the sand.
• Vezo sailing pirogues - the outrigger canoes working the bay.
• Salt pans - the shallow evaporation flats behind the village.
• Mangrove and reef - the shallow coast off the beach.

When to go

April to November, when the track is open and the sea is calm enough for boats. From December to April the rivers flood, the track closes and the village is reached only by sea when weather allows.

Honest expectations

Getting here is the hard part: a slow rough drive with river crossings, or a long boat trip. Facilities are basic and power is limited. There is little organised for visitors beyond watching the boatyards and going out on the water. Cash must be brought; there is no bank.

Nearby

Kirindy Mitea is south; Morondava lies north.