Madagascar’s south

Last October Sylvain Bourlard and his girlfriend Aurore Cocqueel travelled to Madagascar and they shared the wave sailing paradise Lavanono for 15 days with the locals and friends from the neighbouring island Reunion: Steven Pichot, Loic Frappat, Jerome Pajaud and Mathieu Demachy. Friend Gigi took care of them. 

“We windsurfed the famous left to Lavanono. This is a wave with perfect side off shore conditions for down the line wave riding. And there is as well a secret spot near Lavanono that’s great for jumping. Aurore Cocqueel, my girlfriend, produced all the images. It was the 3rd year I travelled there and I like the place because of its authenticity and its conditions,” Sylvain Bourlard told us.

Lavanono had no access for the tourism for a long time. Just a few years ago in the early nineties (1993) the infrastructure was improved and a kind of a eco tourism started in the southern area of the huge island country in the Indian Ocean located in between Mozambique, Reunion and Mauritius. The area around Lavanono is well known for its biodiversity and a lot of plants and animals are endemic species. Some pro riders already visited this remote spot in the past. Let’s hope that this jewel will not be discovered too early by the mass tourism. At the moment  around 500 inhabitants are living in the little village of Lavanono. A few resorts for tourists are existing already there. The place is really isolated and remote, but definitely offers, what windsurfers are looking for: wind and clean waves. And it looks like the wind can get quite strong. Bring your 4.0m!

Riding down the line at Lavanono, Madagascar