"Mozambique Vilancoulos  Accommodation."

Linene Island Resort.

Linene Island Resort is situated on a small island in a tidal lagoon on the East side of San Sebastian peninsula. This is just South of the town of Vilancoulos in Mozambique. The lodge is reachable by boat only. Transfers are done with the lodge boats between Vilancoulos and the lodge whenever required. At times transfers can be delayed because of tidal movements, as it may not be possible to access the channels at low tides. If a flight arrives in Vilancoulos over a low spring tide guests may have to relax for a couple of hours and enjoy a drink at Smugglers Bar while waiting for the water to come in. In extreme cases it may even be necessary to overnight in Vilancoulos and leave for Linene the following morning. This does not happen often, but if it does the accommodation in Vilancoulos is paid for by Linene.

ACCOMMODATION
 
Accommodation at Linene Island Resort consists of five wooden chalets, four three bed and one four bed.
 
The entire lodge is built on stilts in order to make the most of the view over the lagoon and to capture the cooling sea breeze. Raised wooden boardwalks connect all buildings, which keeps sand and crawling micro fauna out of the living areas.
 
 The main lodge area consists of a large open plan dining and bar area, which also has a television set, which receives a DSTV signal. The television is a bonus for those who enjoy keeping up to date with sport news etc. This area has a beautiful view over the lagoon towards the beach.

STAFF 

Management Staff at the lodge are South Africans, the rest of the staff are local Mozambicans. The locals are very friendly and helpful, but are still learning to speak English. Please remember that these are people who have grown up in the bush without electrical appliances and modern technology. Should you have questions of a technical nature rather direct them at the management staff.

MALARIA 

The lodge does fall within the malaria belt, and necessary precautions should be taken. We recommend guests to consult their doctors about malaria before traveling to Mozambique. The risk of contracting malaria at Linene is reasonably low as there are no local villages in the area, but it is still worth taking precautions. Mosquito nets are supplied in all the rooms.

CURRENCY 

The lodge accepts rands, so there is no need to change money for a visit to Linene. There are no credit card facilities however, and payments for boat hire, fuel and bar accounts will need to be settled in cash.

ACTIVITIES
 
Swimming 

Swimming in the lagoon in front of the lodge is safe and pleasant. Swimming at the main beach is fine at low tide, but can be dangerous at high tide, when currents are strong and the surf is rough

Snorkeling – Fuel charge only
 
There is a small reef in the lagoon a couple of hundred metres in front of the lodge. This reef is full of fish and is a wonderful area to snorkel. At low tide the water at the reef may be discolored as the water from higher up the lagoon moves over it, but once there is some tidal push the water quickly clears. One can get a ride out to the lagoon reef with a boat and snorkel safely with the boat drifting at anchor nearby. Guests must bring their own snorkeling equipment, as the lodge does not supply snorkeling gear.
 
There is a reef about ten kilometers down the beach from the lagoon mouth in front of the old San Sebastian lighthouse. This reef protects a sheltered bay, which is fantastic for swimming and snorkeling during low tide. There are caves and overhangs on the inside of the reef, which are packed with colorful tropical reef fish. Management at the lodge will organize excursions to the reef on request.

Walking 

It takes about an hour to circumnavigate Linene Island itself and many guests enjoy the relaxing walk. The main beach is excellent for walking; you can walk for hours in your own private paradise without seeing another soul. For those who like to keep fit, a long jog on the hard sand of the beach over the low tide period is highly recommended.
 
Bird watching 

The coastal scrub and dune forests in the area are home to a number of interesting forest birds such as purple banded sunbird, green coucal and grey waxbills. The lagoon has flocks of resident flamingos as well as migrant waders. The beach has waders and a variety of terns and gulls. After a big storm out at sea unusual sea birds are often blown in and one can see rare sightings of birds such as sooty tern, greater frigate bird and yellow nosed albatross. Mangrove kingfishers are fairly common in the mangroves in the lagoon. Crab plovers often flock on the beaches at Linene.
 
Shell Collecting 

If one walks along the high water mark on the beach many interesting shells can be picked up. Pansy Island however is literally covered in beautiful shells of the area and is well worth a trip for shell collecting. Pansy shells are common in the area and can be picked up in their hundreds. These shells belong to a creature of the sea urchin family, which lives under the sand on the shallow sandbanks. Pansy shells are very fragile and should be handled gently to keep them from breaking. Trips out to Pansy Island can be arranged with lodge management.
 
Resident fishing guide

 Linene now has the knowledge and experience of a full time guide on the Island who is available to the guests at no extra charge. Adrian has fished the San Sebastian area for a number of years and has dedicated his fishing skills to hunting the giant kingfish.
 

Fishing – Boat hire and fuel charged

This area is famous for its excellent fishing. The chef at the lodge will happily prepare your catch for you to enjoy, but please remember that the lodge falls within a conservation area and catch and release of excess fish is encouraged. No fish may be frozen and taken out of the area. Linene offers both offshore fishing with its boats and surf fishing from the beach. Use of the lodge’s boats and skippers for fishing is charged for. The lodge does have tackle available for offshore fishing for those who have not got their own. There are some very productive offshore reefs in the area and anything from sailfish and wahoo to kingfish, tuna and barracuda can be expected when fishing from the boat. Offshore fishing excursions can be arranged with lodge management. Preferably let management know the night before if you plan on fishing from one of the ski boats offshore so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

Beach fishing

Beaches in this area offer some of the finest surf fishing in Mozambique. Big kingfish of up to fifty kilo’s can be caught from the beach as well as king mackerel, queenfish, stumpnose, bonefish, springer, pompano, sharks and rays. The spit is excellent for big game fish, especially on the first couple of hours of the pushing tide. Gamefish prefer to move into the clear water of the shallows over the low light times, so fishing at dawn and dusk is normally most productive. Live bait, dead bait, spoons, surface plugs and flies are all successful in the area. Night fishing in one of the deeper channels off the beach is normally very exciting, with lots of action over the pushing tide times. It is a good idea to explore the beach during the day in order to identify and mark deep-water spots for night fishing as well as for fishing over the low tide periods during the daylight hours. There is constant movement of sand and sandbanks in the area and deep water channels change almost daily, depending on wind and tides. The lodge has tide tables available from the Vilancoulos port captain. Tides are generally about forty-five minutes earlier than the times on Durban tide tables. Natural baits are freely available in the area. The beach abounds with ghost crab and sea lice, both of which are eagerly eaten by most fish in the surf. Live bait can be caught in the lagoon in the form of shrimp scads (carapou) and estuarine round herring (sardinias). These are both easily caught by using a yozuri jig from the boat in the reef area of the lagoon. Both these baitfish species make excellent live or dead baits for the big predatory fish in the area. Fresh squid can also be obtained from the local netters in the lagoon.
 
 
The Lagoon – Fuel only

The lagoon offers fine light tackle lure fishing, either from the side or from a drifting boat around the reef area. On a pushing tide the reef in the lagoon attracts large shoals of baitfish which are in turn hunted by big king mackerel which enter the lagoon on the push in search of these shoals. It is often very productive to catch live bait and put one out from the boat while catching more bait. Lures trolled in the lagoon, especially the deeper channels towards the mouth area can also produce good gamefish on the pushing tide. Species such as snapper, sand gurnard, rock cod, sea pike and kingfish can be caught on small lures over the reef as well as from the side of the lagoon when fished into the deeper channels.
 
The Lighthouse Reef – Fuel only

The lighthouse reef is a good low tide fishing spot. Plugs and spoons can be thrown off the reef itself at low tide, as well as over patches of reef to the South. This area is home to many big king fish, which will test your skills and tackle to their utmost. The deep channel directly in front of the reef is also a great spot for light tackle lure fishing or fly-fishing. This channel is roamed by various species of kingfish, spotted pompano, queenfish, bonefish, threadfin and a couple of snapper species. Access to the lighthouse involves being dropped off by boat up the lagoon at Pescada’s dive camp and walking 7km down the beach.  This walk is not for the faint hearted! Plan this as a day trip and arrange a packed lunch the night before with lodge management.

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