The Comoros are a group of islands at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel on the east coast of Africa. Despite being a country of great natural wealth, particularly with its blue water beaches, this is a destination rarely visited.
According to the World Bank, the island was at the bottom of the list of countries with the most foreign tourist arrivals. In 2019 there were 45,100 arrivals. For comparison, Brazil had 6.3 million visitors in the same year, while inhospitable Antarctica received 23,000 visitors. Not much for such a paradisiacal destination, is it?
Local authorities are scrambling to change these numbers, which have fallen even further after the pandemic, trying to attract tourists with nature and visitors’ ease of seeing animals such as whales, dolphins, turtles and sharks.
“We try to encourage visitors to seek out really rewarding wildlife,” Matt Berna, head of one of the local tourism agencies, told Travel and Leisure.
“Our itineraries are designed to show the importance of preserving one of the world’s most fragile ecosystems and connecting with the community to take action to protect these species,” he added.
Itsandra Beach, part of Comoros Credit: mtcurado/Getty Images/iStockphoto
However, access to the archipelago is perhaps one of the reasons for the small number compared to similar destinations: Comoros lies between Madagascar and Mozambique and is most easily reached via Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya or Tanzania.
But if you’re just looking to get away from standard tourism, this is an opportunity to explore a range of differentiated islands, which are best visited between August and October.