Perfect spot : Moucha and Maskali Islands

One of the best thing to do to relax in Djibouti is to go to Moucha and Maskali.
Those two wonderful places are small Islands, 30 min away from Djibouti town. That makes them a perfect spot for a day-trip. This is also why sometimes, you will find a lot of people on Fridays (remember here that Friday is a day-off). Unless you have your own motor boat, you can hire a boat at the wharf for 30.000 FDJ that can fit up to 9-10 people.

Sunset on Moucha Island

Maskali and Moucha have both advantages and disadvantages.

If you are interested on snorkeling, then you should go to Maskali Island. There is a nice coral wall not too far with all the species you could imagine : surgeon fish, angelfish, parrotfish, napoleon, barracuda... With a bit of luck, you can swim with turtles too. The inconvenient of Maskali is the shade. If you are linked to someone in the Army, it is possible to rent a shelter (faré), otherwise you won't have a lot of shade.

Maskali Island

On the other hand, if you prefer to go to Moucha, you will find a long beach with white sand called "Sheraton beach". That one has several shelters that you can rent without any trouble. Just give something to the guy when you leave. This is a nice place to go to chill with barbecue and booze, between sunbathing and swimming. You won't see any fish there because there are no coral reef. It is called "Sheraton Beach" because several years ago, there was a hotel there. There are still ruins of it since they closed down the place. The rumor says that they used the hotel to film porn movies !


On Moucha Island, there is another nice place to go. It has a Mangrove and a long stretch of white sand. When it is low tide, one can walk the whole way inside. The first time I went there, I was a little scared of what could be under the water but no worry, there are no anaconda here, neither alligators ! The trip is 100% safe. You can access the Mangrove from both side and the boat usually drops us on the beach.

Mangrove

I have epic memories of my trip to "The Islands". During my three years in Djibouti, I think I have been there at least 15 times. Only twice I spent the night there but this is also something nice to do and very easy. Usually we share the food and the drinks. Everybody brings a little and share with the others. Sometimes we have guitars, sometimes we have telescopes, sometimes we kitesurf but always... we drink !


Thomas, one of my friend, also likes to fish. He has two poles and we could fish on our way there. The first time I tried, I got a huge Caranx. I started fishing from that time and enjoyed it very much. Tom also has a wake board. When the boat has a strong engine, we also do wake-boarding in the lagoon. The water is flat and you can get nice sensations. He also fishes a little so that happened few times that we arrived the Islands with fresh fish.

Wake-boarding & Fishing

At the end, THE ISLANDS are probably the place I will remember the most from my stay there. Not because this is the best place to be in Djibouti but because it is the most convenient one to go for a day trip. I have never been disappointed going there.