Where is Belo-sur-Mer?
Belo-sur-Mer is a coastal village on the west coast of Madagascar, in the Menabe region, about 70 to 80 km south of Morondava depending on the source. The village faces the Mozambique Channel, between the sea and a lagoon lined with mangroves.
It lies within the “Belo-sur-Mer – Kirindy-Mite” UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, designated in 2016, which brings together dry forests, savannahs, mangroves, salt flats known as tannes, and coral reefs.
A Vezo village
Most of the inhabitants are Vezo, a fishing community belonging to the wider Sakalava group. Village life follows the rhythm of the sea: fishing, the tides, and canoes pulled up onto the sand.
What it means to “be Vezo”, and the village’s traditions and taboos (fady), will be told here by local people, not summarised by us. Are you from Belo? Contribute.
The schooner shipyards
Belo-sur-Mer is best known for the handcrafted building of large wooden sailing boats: schooners, often called dhows (boutres in French). They are built by hand in open-air shipyards on the beach.
This craft was brought here a little over a century ago by shipwrights of French origin: Bretons who came by way of Réunion Island, including the Joachim family. Dates vary between sources, from the late 19th to the early 20th century. It has since been passed down from generation to generation. According to Le Journal des Archipels, these boats have a shallow draught and serve coastal villages that are hard to reach by road.
To learn more: the history of the Belo-sur-Mer schooners, in our Journal.
The launch of a finished boat brings the whole village together: it is a shared, festive occasion.
A local association is also working on a museum project dedicated to the shipwrights, known as fondy (Le Journal des Archipels, November 2025).
Visit with respect: the shipyards are workplaces, not a show. Always ask before taking a close-up photo of someone.
The salt pans
Salt production is the village’s other main activity: seawater evaporates in the sun in shallow basins, then families harvest the salt. UNESCO lists salt among the key resources of the biosphere reserve.
What we don’t know yet
We would rather leave a gap than make things up. We are still missing the elders’ stories about the village’s history, everyday life told by its inhabitants, and photos taken on site with the consent of the people in them.