Foulpointe

Foulpointe, or Mahavelona, is the east coast's most used beach resort because a coral reef closes off the bay and makes the water calm and shark-free, which along most of this coast it is not. The beach is long and sandy with hotels behind it, busy with Malagasy holidaymakers at weekends and holidays, and pirogues run out to the reef. Just inland stands Fort Manda, built in the early nineteenth century by the Merina kingdom from coral lime mixed with egg white and sand, with walls several metres thick that resisted French bombardment; it is a squat circular structure with a good view from the top. The town is unpolished, with a strip of restaurants and stalls, and it is the standard weekend escape from Toamasina.

What you actually see

• The sheltered bay - reef-protected water safe for swimming.
• Fort Manda - the thick-walled Merina fort of coral and egg white.
• The beach strip - hotels, stalls and weekend crowds.
• Reef pirogue trips - boats out to the coral barrier.

When to go

April to November for the driest weather. Malagasy school holidays and weekends fill the beach; midweek is much quieter. Cyclones hit this coast between January and March.

Honest expectations

It is a domestic resort rather than a polished one: development is haphazard and rubbish on the beach is a problem in places. Water inside the reef is shallow and warm rather than clear. Hawkers on the sand are persistent. The fort has almost no interpretation.

Nearby

Toamasina lies south; Ile Sainte-Marie is reached from Soanierana Ivongo further north.