Back to Sainte-Marie: great tips and updates

It’s been 15 years since I last went to Sainte-Marie. I used to stay at the Hôtel Les Baleines—it was pretty basic, but I get the feeling things have improved since then. If anyone has good recommendations for hotels, rentals, scooters, or tuk-tuks, I’m all ears!

Hi there, For our recent trip to Sainte-Marie (in December), I actually put together a little recap.

It all depends on the budget, even though overall—and compared to 15 years ago—prices have gone up quite a bit, even when accounting for the depreciation of the Ariary.

No tuk-tuk or scooter rentals (I’d arranged one directly in Ambodifototra back in 2019), but it’s still pretty easy to get around. We mostly took boats for snorkeling trips and exploring the lagoon and nearby islands.

The road in Sainte-Marie has been redone (not the whole length) and is now in great condition, and the vibe is still as relaxed and friendly as ever—especially on Île aux Nattes.

Any hotel you’d recommend? I saw that the "Baleine" is still around—our first hotel back in 1992, super basic but the punch coco was out of this world, never had better! And what about the rock to the north—any thoughts? Thanks in advance

Le Rocher. Chez Emilienne in Maromandia. 😉 PS: The latest reviews (last 2 months) for La Baleine aren’t great:

Run-down place. Owner makes no effort and just complains about not having customers. Yet the setting is amazing. Could do so much better.

thanks for the info

Hi, do you know the phone number for the CAP STE MARIE company to book a bus + boat round trip to Sainte-Marie? Thanks

Hi, do you know the phone number for the CAP STE MARIE company for a bus + boat round trip to Sainte-Marie? Thanks

Unfortunately, no... As for the boat, I hope the safety conditions have improved because when I took it, I really thought we wouldn’t make it to our destination. As they say, it was sketchy!

yeah, it's true that from June to mid-September the Indian Ocean is really rough during that period, and in 1998 it was even worse with the "sansonette" things have improved since then though

I think there was a shipwreck once... with many victims. Well, one shipwreck out of all the crossings is acceptable. 😉

+261320521808

Here’s what I found. Honestly, I didn’t take the boat last time, but I did take Cap Ste Marie back in 2019 and everything was great. A lot’s changed since then—COVID happened—and I opted for the plane on my recent trip to Ste Marie. The road to Tamatave is awful and it’s not getting any better beyond that. As for boat safety, there’s no mention of recent accidents, no matter the company.

Hi

https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/336657/Madagascar_-_27_disparus_dans_le_naufrage_d%2527un_bac.html

There was that one that caused a lot of uproar, obviously

https://www.madagascar-tribune.com/Deces-brutal-de-Nadine-Ramaroson,16330.html

but also this more recent one

Maritime accident: 22 bodies found this morning in Ste-Marie, 63 deaths total - Dépêche TARATRA

Maybe there were others involving boats from companies that normally run shuttles, but I can’t find them.