Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images
Ifaty and Mangily, around 25km north of Tuléar, are two separate villages 3km apart that share the same beach, confusingly known as Ifaty Beach (the Dunes d’Ifaty, for example, is in Mangily). Ifaty is by far the smaller tourist destination, even while its name continues to usurp the latter. The popularity of this area is largely due to its location close to Tuléar and the excellent paved road that connects them. The beaches are really quite poor relative to other options: rocky at times, very shallow for much of the day and with seagrass beds rather than sandy bottoms. The unkempt villages, saturated by tourism, are not very attractive, either. Nevertheless, the snorkelling is good, the whales come past here and there are a lot of resorts to choose from, including some really good ones.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Ifaty & Mangily.
Wildlife Reserve
This is a 0.6-sq-km spiny forest full of baobab trees and some birds. There are two circuits, one of 45 minutes to an hour and the other of 1½ to two hours. The Arboretum in Tuléar is better, but this one's still worth supporting and worth a visit. There's also an on-site lemur rescue centre, with some in cages, others in semiwild enclosures in readiness for their release into the wild.
Wildlife Reserve
Near Reniala Nature Reserve, this 70,000-sq-metre park protects over 1000 radiated and spider tortoises. A guided tour of the grounds (in English) tells you the full story of these endangered animals and how they are being conserved. It takes less than an hour, so it's a worthy break from the beach.