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Ambanja → Nosy Be (Ankify port + ferry) transfer

Twenty kilometres from Ambanja to Ankify port, and then the sea. It is the shortest journey we sell and almost none of it is about the driving.

The road

The Ankify spur runs about 20 to 22 km from Ambanja out to the jetty. It was tarred in 2011 and has not been comprehensively maintained since — expect patches of gravel and potholes rather than a smooth run, and about twenty-five minutes in a private vehicle. A shared taxi-be does the same distance in an hour for a few thousand Ariary, which tells you something about how often it stops.

The crossing, and the decision it forces

Ankify faces Nosy Be and Nosy Komba across roughly 30 km of the Ampasindava strait. Before you go, one question: is the car coming across, or is it staying on the mainland?

Our own driver crossed with the vehicle in August 2026 and these are his figures rather than a guidebook's. The car ferry — le bac — costs about 200,000 Ariary each way, 400,000 return, and takes two hours. A foot passenger pays around 20,000 Ariary. The first sailing is at 07:00 and the last at 14:00.

If the car is not coming, the fast boat known locally as la coque crosses in twenty to forty-five minutes for roughly 20,000 Ariary. It has no timetable: it leaves when it fills.

Two named vehicle operators publish phone numbers — Toky Bac 2 and Cameraman Bac — and both advise reserving a vehicle place rather than turning up. We handle that for you.

Why the last boat matters more than the distance

Two hours on the water and a 14:00 last departure mean this short journey can still consume a day. Miss the afternoon bac with a vehicle and nobody crosses until morning.

Cross in the morning for a second reason as well: the strait is calmer early, and an afternoon crossing in an open boat is a different experience from the same trip at eight o'clock.

Bring Ariary in cash. There is no card machine at the ramp, and a vehicle crossing is a substantial sum to be carrying, so it is worth knowing before you arrive rather than at the window.

The port itself

Ankify is a hinge rather than a destination, but it is not a bad place to wait. The jetty has been modernised and now has a shaded market for fruit and souvenirs with small restaurants around it. There are mangroves between Ankify and Ampahakabe and beach access at nearby Doany.

One practical warning that comes up repeatedly in traveller accounts: at the Nosy Be end there are pushy ticket sellers who offer to take your passport to the counter for you. Walk past them and buy at the window yourself.

Price per person

* Travelling alone? The whole car is yours — a private trip costs the same in total. Bring a travel companion and the price per person halves.

Zebu on the road are part of driving here. Herds cross the national roads and rest on the warm tarmac, and after dark they are genuinely hard to see even on full beam — which is one reason we do not drive between towns at night. A zebu is worth around 400,000 to 500,000 Ariary, more than a month's wages for most people in this region, so an animal on the road is somebody's livelihood rather than an obstacle. Knowing which stretches carry herds, and at what hour, is exactly the kind of thing a driver who runs these roads every month knows and a rented car does not come with.

Chameleons cross these roads, slowly and without looking, and your driver will stop for them. In much of northern Madagascar it is fady — taboo — to kill or even touch one, and that belief is the reason the big Oustalet's chameleon is still common here when it has thinned out elsewhere. In many villages they are held to carry the spirits of the ancestors, so harming one, even accidentally at the wheel, is not a small thing. One piece of advice a visitor would never guess: in traditional belief even pointing at a chameleon is a bad omen, and the misfortune is held to fall on the person and their family rather than on the animal. Admire it, keep your hand down, and let your driver decide what happens next. Fady varies from region to region and sometimes from village to village, which is another reason to travel with somebody who knows which one he is in.

Nosy Be is an island. The price covers the drive to Ankify port; the car ferry crossing for the vehicle is NOT included and is charged extra at the current ferry rate. Many visitors cross as foot passengers by speedboat instead — tell us your plan and we'll help you choose.

Prices are per person. Full car = cheapest per seat. Children under 3 travel free on a lap. The price covers the booked travellers only — every traveller in the car pays.

Read first: driving in northern Madagascar — night, zebu, fuel and the rains →

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