Guest reviews Machangulo Beach Lodge

by Rebeccakb5 Illovo, South Africa

The most magical week at Machangulu!!

Machangulu beach lodge is simply spectacular. Every location, from your log cabin, the pool, two bars, sunset viewing deck, and the restaurant has a sea view. The food is incredible: fresh fish or prawns are on option at every meal. There are kayaks, SUP boards, goggles, snorkels, wetsuits and flippers available for use at no charge. And no shortage of activities and day outings: deep sea fishing, snorkeling, hikes, kayaking, to name a few. We highly recommend the snorkeling picnic excursion to nearby Nyaka Island. What makes the lodge so special are the friendly, hard-working staff who tirelessly attend to your every need. Thank you to the most wonderful team at Machangulu!! We will definitely be back.

by HayleyArt

Very special spot

We stayed at Machangulo Beach lodge for 8 nights and it was an unbelievable holiday! This little spot is perfect in every way. The beach is remote and very quiet. Walk 100m around the point and you will have a 2km stretch of beach to yourself. Swimming in front of the lodge was perfect for our 3 small kids, but this is tide dependant and for us worked out very well. Snorkelling in front of the lodge is also great and there are some beautiful fish just email off from the beach, but better snorkelling is at the marine reserve room across on Inhaca Island.Kayaks,sups and snorkelling gear are available for use and we loved paddling up and down the stretch of coast in front of the lodge. The lodge is beautiful. Each individual tent is hidden in the forests each with amazing views from their balconies. Bear in mind that there are a lot of steps from the beach up to each unit. We visited in April and mosquitoes were not a problem. The food was perfect. It is not a fine dining kind of cuisine, but the food is so fresh and simple that everything has such great flavour. Breakfasts include a selection of warm out the oven muffins, pastries, waffles and pancakes, fresh fruit and yoghurts and then a choice of cooked eggs, bacon etc. Fish or seafood is served every evening and a non fish option for those not keen on seafood. Dinner is 3 course and every night of our 8 there was superb. Twice we walked to Bemugis in Santa Maria for lunch and would highly recommend their half chicken. The best chicken I have ever eaten. We were a family of 11 there and the management and staff were the best. Accommodating to every need and the service was great. We spent the week swimming, snorkelling, paddling, running, eating and reading. This is not an uber luxurious establishment, it is beautiful and well kept and food is delicious, but it is wild and remote and do not be surprised to find a mouse running through your bedroom or a crab scuttling through the dining room. The pool is small, but the most perfect stretch of beach is what you're at this spot for. We will definitely be back as soon as possible!

by Dlambo1968 London, United Kingdom

When your trip coincides with the family of the owners it will go one of two ways….

We had a private transfer driver from Thornybush game lodge to Maputo and this was excellent and our driver Jeffrey helped us will our entry visas in order to enter Mozambique. He drove us to the Marina in Maputo where we were greeted by the most unhelpful and rude people ever! There was no boat waiting for us and no one was interested in helping us sort the mess out. Eventually we found someone who made a phone call and after an hour suddenly our boat transfer materialised but we had to go to a separate harbour in order to get our boat. Our driver took us there where we were greeted by a lot of very unsavoury characters and he left us in a situation that we both thought was dangerous and completely unsafe. We had to climb across 4 separate boats in order to reach our transfer boat and Marie did not want to board any of these vessels as they were all so unsafe and we didn’t trust anyone. Eventually we got to our boat and the crossing to Machangulo was completed. The location of Machangulo beach lodge is set in a cliff side tropical setting and is seriously stunning. There are a lot of stairs to negotiate (97 in fact) to get to the dining area and then on to our room. The room (room 7) itself has spectacular views but the furnishings were unbelievably tired and shabby and the bed sheets were torn which was a disgrace, especially as I complained about them to the guest coordinator Sifisso who just laughed at me! For a hotel that is only 15 odd years old you can tell that a cash injection to spruce the place up is desperately needed! The staff were genuinely friendly but our visit coincided with the visit of the hotel owners daughter, her husband and her kids and from the minute we arrived until the moment we left neither of them said a single word to us and nor did they even smile or acknowledge us either!! There was a large party of South Africans though, 5 adults and 4 kids who had an amazing holiday experience because the owners family latched on to them and made sure they received preferential treatment and ignored everyone who was non South African. There was one experience where the large group went for an island picnic, a trip that runs from 11am until 3 pm but as the owners family were with them on the trip this was extended until 7pm and not only that, they proceeded to take every piece of beach equipment with them as well, kayaks, mini surf / body boards, snorkels, flippers and fishing rods leaving nothing behind at all for the remaining guests. I complained and said I wanted a kayak and one of the members of staff reluctantly went to a completely different hotel to “borrow” a kayak in order to shut me up! On another occasion there was an incident where one of the large South African party had a birthday and a special table was made up in a stunning location for 16 people (9 from the large party and 5 from the owners daughters family and 2 other South Africans, purely because they were SA). This left 3 tables set in the main dining room for the remaining 7 guests at 3 separate tables. It is forbidden there to play any music on your room balcony after 10pm because of fear of disturbing other guests (one other South African couple were indeed told off on our first night for doing this very thing) but quickly turned off once told. Unfortunately this isn’t a rule that the owners family seem to adhere to and at the birthday party and with the party in full swing they proceeded to sing, shout and play unbelievably loud music until we’ll after midnight, despite a dozen attempts to call the reception by myself to complain. I saw the guest coordinator Sifisso the following day to complain about the noise and he just laughed, shrugged his shoulders and walked away… Also on many occasions it was impossible to get a drink or get a waiters attention because there was no one either behind the bar or waiting on us because their attention was 100% on the large group of South Africans and the owners daughters family. My complaint about the torn bedsheets didn’t fall on deaf ears though as they were eventually changed; after 3 days….. with a different set of torn bedsheets! I did feel sorry for some of the staff because it was so obvious to them what was happening re the preferential treatment they they felt embarrassed on our behalf and seemed very intimidated by the owners daughters family. Unfortunately I would not return to Machangulo Beach Lodge if you paid me!

by Juliet S Johannesburg, South Africa

Very beautiful unspoiled paradise on the beach

To be honest I would like to keep this place a secret but for people who want a taste of paradise please visit. Rooms are simple but adequate, the lodge is very pretty on an exquisite beach, staff are fantastic, food excellent, beach excursions fantastic. All in all my little place in heaven.

by Romain W Paris, France

Fantastic stay

Thanks to the team for having made our stay wonderful. The view form the lodge is amazing, we feel like a bird watching the sea from the sky, unique sensation. The food was good and fresh, changing every day, the sindowner was peaceful and memorable. For those who are not in good health, i would not recommend this lodge as the lodge are built along the dune, lot of stairs to climb from the beach to your bungalow, for the others, go ahead with no doubts. Thanks a lot and we hope to see you back soon !