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Hilary Bradt
Publisher, travel writer, lecturer and sculptor
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Is there any update on the information on p. 334 regarding the safety of travel by sea from Soanierana – Ivongo to Île Sainte-Marie? Some travel advisors recommend going by air because of the safety problems and the frequency of weather conditions that prevent travel by sea.
Hi Claude, The only updates we have since the current edition of the guidebook are that there is now also a boat M/S Sandrella Princesse (tel: 032 96 265 61, 033 14 050 17, 034 12 718 41) that crosses regularly between S-Ivongo and Ile Sainte Marie, and makes weekly journeys to Mananara-Nord and Maroantsetra. The feedback we have so far is that this boat is “more comfortable” than the other options hitherto, but I am afraid we are not yet in a position to comment on the levels of safety. Certainly, it is true that weather conditions on this route do not always make it possible, and serious accidents some years have made some travel agents nervous about going to Sainte Marie by sea rather than air.