Destinations

Tulear and Ifaty

At the end of the legendary RN7, Tulear opens onto the Ifaty lagoon, one of the world's largest coral reefs and the astonishing spiny forest of southern Madagascar.

Photo: Bernard Gagnon — CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

By Mirado Rakotoarison · updated on 14 July 2026

Tulear (Toliara), 'the city of the sun', enjoys an almost permanently dry climate. It marks the end of the great RN7 road trip and the gateway to the land of the Vezo, the sea nomads. Twenty kilometres north, the beaches of Ifaty and Mangily line a lagoon protected by a reef more than 250 km long — a paradise for diving and lazing.

At a glance

Location: Southwest coast, Atsimo-Andrefana region, at the end of the RN7.
Best time to visit: Almost year-round; April to November for ideal conditions.
Getting there: Domestic flight Antananarivo–Tulear, or the RN7 over 2–3 days with stopovers (Antsirabe, Fianarantsoa, Isalo).
Suggested stay: 2 to 4 days.

What to do in Tulear and Ifaty

In Ifaty and Mangily, the lagoon is perfect for both scuba diving and snorkelling: coral, tropical fish and, from June to September, whales passing offshore. The neighbouring Vezo villages live to the rhythm of outrigger canoes setting out to fish at dawn. Near Tulear, the Antsokay Arboretum gathers 900 plant species of the South on a few hectares, most found nowhere else on Earth.

Nearby

Behind the beaches of Ifaty, the Reniala reserve protects a fascinating sample of spiny forest: bottle baobabs, bristling didiereas and endemic birds. South of Tulear, reached by speedboat, Anakao lines its beaches opposite the islet of Nosy Ve, a sanctuary for red-tailed tropicbirds. And on the way back, Isalo National Park is only a three-hour drive away.