The various island lodges off the Mozambican coast have a well-deserved reputation for quality and barefoot luxury. But the new lodge on Vamizi Island (a 12 km long crescent-shaped island in the far north of Mozambique) has really shaken the industry up by taking the whole island holiday experience to a whole new level altogether.

if you’re looking for the ultimate romantic beach experience (and can afford the not inconsiderable price-tag), Vamizi Island has to be near the top of any shopping list! Take your “room” for example – they’re actually massive and wonderfully luxurious 170 m² beach houses, each sleeping just 2 people (even though they’re bigger than many suburban homes!) and spread apart some 70 metres from each other along a perfect white sand beach, guaranteeing superb privacy. The message is clear – if you’re looking for the ultimate romantic beach experience (and can afford the not inconsiderable price-tag), Vamizi Island has to be near the top of any shopping list!

The obvious danger was that the lodge could have ended up being a glitzy and inappropriate blemish on the magnificent natural landscape of the area - the good news though is that Vamizi still ticks all the right boxes in terms of a barefoot luxury holiday: intimate (just 13 beach villas, 5 of them 2-bedroom units); wonderful beaches (6 different beaches on the island including an 8 km stretch of fine white sand along which the beach houses are found); fantastic dining with straight-out-of-the-sea seafood the star of the show; superb fishing and diving (some of the best on the planet!); and a lack of distracting mod-cons that could ruin the island peace (no satellite TV or in-room phones; even air-conditioning has been foregone in favour of natural ventilation)

The lack of mod-cons is instead replaced by the luxury of hugely spacious accommodation and sensuous finishes with billowing white muslin and the finest linen. A private sitting room featuring comfortable cane sofas and colonial-style planters chairs leads from the bedroom, where a large paddle-fan keeps you comfortable. On your outside deck and on the beach there are sun chairs and Swahili daybeds, perfect for an afternoon of lazy beach bliss! Bathrooms boast vanities and a large shower slab carved from local marble – perhaps the most eye catching feature of all though are the intricately carved wooden screens allowing the free circulation of air with not a glass window in sight.

Dining is always a highlight at Vamizi, especially if you’re a fan of fresh seafood! You might choose to have lunch at their castaway restaurant on the south side of the island called Muntu Nkulu (a more sheltered spot during the prevailing winter wind that the main lodge restaurant) or perhaps even escape to a deserted beach for your own private picnic. Evenings are, as the lodge describe them, “a more glamorous affair, with a castaway twist” and depending on the weather conditions you could find yourself dining by latern light in the relative formality of the main restaurant or enjoying a more relaxed seafood grill on the beach under the stars – and of course there’s always the option of dinner set up in your villa for the ultimate in privacy…

The island has an encircling reef so providing for great snorkelling and arguably the best scuba-diving on some of the most unspoilt reefs in the world (recent scientific surveys have revealed more types of coral than on the entire Barrier Reef and over 350 species of fish, including some previously undiscovered) The reefs here escaped the major coral bleaching disaster of 1998 that affected almost the entire Indian Ocean, saved by the cooling upswelling of the deep ocean just offshore – so if you’re wanting to see pristine reefs in all their original Technicolor glory, Vamizi is the place to go!

For keen fishermen Vamizi provides arguably the best fishing in East Africa - the vertical drop-off beyond the reef teams with predator fish including sailfish, marlin, yellow-fin tuna, giant trevally and wahoo, whilst fly-fishermen have taken 12 different species of fish on fly to date and counting. Add pampering massages in the Spa, sunset dhow cruises, walking trails where you can explore deserted coves, sea kayaking and beach picnics – in fact it’s hard to imagine anywhere better to take it easy than Vamizi!

Perhaps the ultimate unspoiled island experience in the Indian Ocean – truly a virtually untouched paradise!

Mind-blowing snorkelling and scuba diving on account of the pristine, unbleached coral reefs found in the ocean off Vamizi

Wonderfully elegant, spacious and luxurious villas are the perfect place to just chill out and forget the existence of the outside world

Outstanding deep-sea and fly fishing with a multitude of big fish waiting to be targeted

The lodge’s isolated position virtually on the border of Tanzania can make it challenging to reach, with a light aircraft flight from Pemba required

At these premium prices many clients would expect air-conditioning and a swimming pool – both absent from Vamizi

Pity there aren’t palm tree lined beaches to give you a really picture-perfect tropical island paradise – instead shade is generally provided by casuarina trees