Tofo Beach is in Inhambane Province, Mozambique. There are beautiful stretches of beach, a friendly laid-back vibe, a small but pumping nightlife, great diving and snorkeling and a few good restaurants, too.
Getting to Tofo
If you are driving follow the paved road from Inhambane through some 30km of pretty scenery to get to Tofo Beach. Most buses leave you in Inhambane - from there take a chapa minibus taxi or a private taxi. The buses run from Maputo bus station leaving at 6:30AM, straight to Inhambane which take 7-9 hours. Tofo is very small and you'll likely walk everywhere.
Activities in Tofo
Tofo and surrounds have some truly excellent diving, with nice reefs and excellent large marine life. Whale sharks and Humpback Whales in season and reef sharks. Most dive sites are at around 25-30 meters. There are dive courses for beginners upwards - dive the famous Manta Reef as well as loads of other awesome sites.
Mozambican art can be bought right in front of the beach
Visit the local market in Inhambane for local crafts such as woodwork, straw weaving
The Restaurante Ferroviara offers a fairly good range of seafood dishes.
Casa Barry has an in-house restaurant with a great wooden terrace overlooking the sea.
Dino's Bar and Restaurant, the beach party spot par excellence, a roofed-off open-air bar midway between Fatima's Nest and Bamboozi Backpackers. They do some decent food including good pizza. Bonfires on the beach at night. Excellent at night; Good vibes and Good drinks!
In Casa de Comer you can eat excellent seafood dishes as well as good international cuisine.
"The water works" a surf shop that also serves excellent breakfast and lunch, you can also trade books and DVDs over there
Bamboozi can be a little bit pricey but has quality food and a great all-you-can-eat seafood buffet on Friday evenings as well as Wednesday night Pizza Buffet.
If you are self-catering buying fresh prawns and crayfish is simple - local fishermen will pass by most cottages every morning.
Babalaza is an excellent restaurant if you have your own transport. Coming from Tofo follow the road back to Inhambane until you reach the T-junction - The restaurant is on your left.
Turtle Cove has a very good restaurant in-house. The food is prepared by hand, one meal at a time, so if you order as part of a group you'll probably all get your food at different times. It's excellent food, though, so worth it. They also have a nicely stocked bar. The dining room/bar area is open, covered, and gorgeous. The place is a 10 minutes' walk on the road from Tofo to Inhambane.
Accommodation in Tofo
Mango Beach has a variety of options from cheap huts to luxury houses.
Tofinho is at the far northern end of Tofo Beach, about a 30 minute walk.
Casa John has 4 luxury houses, sleeping 6-8 people each.
Tofo is a paradisiacal locale, but the recent influx of tourists has brought problems that the local police are ill-equipped to deal with. Bag-nabbing is rife, so be sure that there is always someone to watch over your valuables on the beach. The beach walk between Fatima's, Dino's and Bamboozi is entirely unlit, and women should not walk it alone or in the company of strangers at night. There have been incidents.
