After sailing from East Africa and staying in Mayotte for 18 months, I would like to share my experiences here with the sailors intending to visit Mayotte.

First, on arriving at Mayotte, never enter through pass Bandrele but from pass Mzambouru. Due to illegal traffic from Madagascar, the Authorities will fine you if you do so!

Moorings

Any arriving yacht must fly the yellow flag. All yachts are searched thoroughly by the Customs including the bilges, and everything is taken into the cockpit. Such a mess! The Customs boats have no fenders and while alongside the yacht will usually leave black marks and scratches on the top sides if you are not quick enough to put out your own fenders.

There are no mooring available in Dzaoudzi at all. Most of the yachts which tried to anchor using only one anchor, dragged when the wind gusted more than 30 knots.

We arrived in 37 knots wind and anchored about half a mile northeast of the pontoon where we found some hard sand bottom. Luckily, our Bruce anchor held until we found a mooring.

During the northern monsoon, waves, sometimes 3m high, enter this part of the lagoon, especially during spring tides, causing violent rolling. During the southern monsoon, it’s common to see small breaking waves when the strong wind blows against 4 knots of tidal current.

Landing the dinghy at the pontoon is not good, either. If you are lucky and you find a place to squeeze your dinghy in, there is a big chance that you will damage it if it is an inflatable one. We lost our inflatable after only 2 months. We have now a strong plastic dinghy!

The port master at Dzaoudzi (“Charlie Tango”) is doing his best to help to arrive yachts. He produces a weather report every day. You can find the weather report in the yacht club and in the entrance to the pontoon. (in French).

Yacht club facility

We have been shocked to find such an unfriendly yacht club. We found the most unhealthy toilets and showers and you even have to pay for their use. The 4 washing machines are out of order most of the time, and if one or two machines are working, you have to wait up to 3 days before you be able to do your washing! Don’t go early in the morning as the yacht club is opened only after 11 am. There is a desire to improve the facilities, but it needs far more effort in this regard.

Neither the yacht club nor the port captain is prepared to hold any post for visiting yachts. For one visiting American yacht, the post (including visa card) was sent back to America.

Safety

Any outboard motor of more than 2 hp, is likely to disappear if left unattended. Breaking into yachts anchored far north is common also. Even a dinghy on a davit will disappear during the night.

Internet & Wifi

This is very expansive. You can buy a card for 30 euro but this does not last long as ninety percent of the time the internet connection is very slow. There is an Internet cafe in Mamoudzou (on the big island). You can take the Barge, a 20 min ride, only to find that the cafe is closed or the Internet is not working. Even in Kenya and Tanzania, we found a better internet facility.

Shopping in Mayotte

I found the following shops to be the best:

HD Hyperdiscount in Kaweni on Grand Terre. It is the cheapest shop to do all the provision, it got a big selection of items.

Marina in Kaweni where spare parts for the yacht can be found, he is the agent for Yamaha outboard motor as well.

Acastilage in Zone L Grand Terre, where a big range of spares for the yacht can be found and things can be ordered from France very quickly and effectively.

Mr Bricolage and Jambo are the other two very big shops where you can buy most of the electronics.

In 2010 a new huge closed market was opened near the barge in Mamoudzou, where you can find a very friendly and helpful Tourist board as well.

The fresh vegetable can be found in a new closed market In Petite Terre as well.

Unrest in Mayotte

Recently, many shops and cars were burned down during the unrest due to the fact that the barge company wanted to double the price of the service from Dzaoudzi to Mamoudzou.

General Comments

As opposed to the unfriendliness of the yacht club, we found the local Mahore people to be very friendly and love to help.

The cost of living in Mayotte is probably one of the most expensive in the world, although you will be able to get most of the things (at very high cost).

20,000 tourists come to Mayotte every year, 500,000 to Reunion Island, 1,000,000 to Mauritius, and more than a million to Langkawi say it all.

We found Nose Be, Madagascar to be a much better place to stop before sailing north or south, the angle to the wind is better too. It’s much cheaper, better internet, better supply, and much much better mooring.

Nadav Joshua

S/V Yarmilapearl