This little hideaway opened 23 years ago on the island of the same name, pictured, with 12 two-bed huts and developed into one of the sweetest low-key retreats in the Indian Ocean. The lodge closes in October for a total upgrade, including a refit of the old Flamingo – a much-loved traditional sailing dhow – and will reopen in April 2015. Over on neighbouring Bazaruto Island, the former Indigo Bay hotel, the most sophisticated property in the area when it opened back in 2001, is being smartened up and relaunched as Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort & Spa. And now news reaches us that the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary just south of the archipelago has caught the eye of Singita’s Luke Bailes, who’s been on the lookout for a beach retreat to add to his portfolio of super-slick safari lodges in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Although still a work in progress, he says it will ‘deliver a marine and wildlife experience in one, with a strong focus on restoration and conservation’. Given Singita’s past hits, we expect great things.
