Three volcanic islands tucked away between Mozambique and Madagascar, the 'islands of the Moon': Comoros smells of ylang-ylang, is crowned by the active Karthala volcano and hides in its waters the coelacanth, a fish thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago. One of the least visited and most authentic destinations in the Indian Ocean.
Comoros is a small volcanic archipelago in the north of the Mozambique Channel, between the east coast of Africa and Madagascar, made up of three main islands: Grande Comore (Ngazidja), home to the capital Moroni and the Karthala volcano; Anjouan (Ndzuani), the greenest and most mountainous, land of ylang-ylang; and Mohéli (Mwali), the smallest, wildest and most nature-focused, with the country's best marine park. A fourth island, Mayotte, is geographically Comorian but remains French territory.
It's a destination for curious, adventurous travellers, not for anyone looking for resorts and everything sorted: tourist infrastructure is minimal, services are basic and plans come together as you go. In return, it offers something increasingly rare: total authenticity. Islamic Swahili-Arab culture, medinas of alleyways and carved doors, spice plantations, almost empty volcanic-sand beaches, volcano hiking and spectacular marine life with turtles, whales and dolphins.
For a Latin American it's a long trip with several stopovers, but the reward is stepping into a little-travelled world. With 8 to 12 days you can explore the three islands at an easy pace: a few days on Grande Comore for Moroni and Karthala, others on Anjouan for its citadel town and waterfalls, and a finale on Mohéli for the marine park. Travel with flexibility, cash in euros and island patience.
The currency is the Comorian franc (KMF), pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of 491.96775 KMF per euro since 1999 (inherited from the old parity with the French franc), so its value is very stable. Against the dollar, in July 2026 it was hovering around 450–460 KMF per USD (verified July 2026), but check the day's rate because it moves with the euro-dollar pair. Comoros is a CASH country: almost nothing is paid by card outside a couple of large hotels in Moroni, there is no reliable ATM network (the few BFC/Exim Bank ATMs often fail or run out of money), and many shops don't even accept cards. Bring euros in cash — it's the currency that exchanges best and the one required for the visa on arrival — and change some as soon as you land, at the airport, a bank or an exchange office in Moroni. Dollars can be exchanged but at a worse rate. Tipping isn't a deep-rooted custom: rounding up or leaving 5–10% in tourist restaurants is more than enough.
Full converter for KMF →There are no direct flights from Latin America: you get there with two or three stopovers, almost always combining Europe, the Persian Gulf or East Africa. The most common routes go through Paris (with Kenya Airways via Nairobi, or Ethiopian via Addis Ababa), through Istanbul (Turkish Airlines), or through Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Antananarivo (Madagascar), from where regional airlines fly to Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport (HAH), in Hahaya, about 20 km from Moroni. The visa is issued ON ARRIVAL at the airport: it costs about 30 euros in cash, is single-entry and lets you stay up to 45 days; you pay at the immigration desk and you're through in a few minutes (bring a passport valid for 6 months, proof of accommodation and an onward flight). Between the three islands — Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli — you hop by small plane (the fastest connection, but with changing schedules) or by ferry/speedboat, cheaper but slow and dependent on the sea. Within each island, the norm is shared taxis and 'van-buses'; hiring a car with a driver is the most comfortable way to get around.
Comoros has a tropical climate and only two seasons. The best time to travel is the dry, cooler season, from May to October: temperatures of 24 to 28 °C, little rain, calmer seas and the best conditions for climbing Karthala, hiking and sailing between islands. Within that window, July to October is when humpback whales pass through Mohéli Marine Park, the big bonus for wildlife lovers.
The hot, wet season runs from November to April, with higher temperatures (28–33 °C), heavy humidity and intense rain; it's also the Indian Ocean cyclone season, which can disrupt flights and ferries. Travelling in those months isn't impossible — the landscape turns green and lush — but rougher seas make island-hopping and excursions harder. For most people, aiming for the dry season (May–October) is the safe bet.
Comorian cuisine blends African, Arab, Indian and French roots around the sea and the spices the land itself produces (vanilla, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg). The signature dish is 'langouste à la vanille', lobster in vanilla sauce, a luxury at island prices. Day to day, people eat lots of fresh fish and seafood, rice, cassava, plantain and coconut: try 'mataba' (pounded cassava leaves with coconut milk), 'ambrevades' (pigeon pea stew) and grilled fish brochettes at the harbour. For street snacks, 'sambos' (samosas) and fritters.
To drink, since it's a Muslim-majority country alcohol is uncommon and expensive (available in some hotels), so the typical options are tropical fruit juices, coconut water and spiced tea or coffee. Eating is cheap if you go local: a plate of fish with rice at a gargote costs around 3–6 USD, and a full meal at a restaurant in Moroni, 8–15 USD. Vanilla lobster, depending on the place, between 12 and 25 USD.
Comoros is a calm destination as far as crime goes: tourists rarely have problems beyond the odd petty theft, and people are hospitable. The real challenges lie elsewhere: political instability (there have been many coups in its history and elections can bring tension, so it's best to avoid demonstrations), very basic infrastructure and limited emergency services. At sea and on Karthala, the risk is logistical: ferries cancelled due to weather, unmarked trails and little assistance, so a local guide and forward planning are key.
On the health front, two things need to be taken seriously. Malaria is present year-round on all three islands: it's essential to consult your doctor about antimalarial prophylaxis and to use repellent, long sleeves and a mosquito net. Yellow fever isn't a risk in the country, but a vaccination certificate is required if you arrive from a country with active transmission (much of Africa and tropical South America), so if your route passes through there, get vaccinated. Keep your routine vaccines up to date and consider hepatitis A, typhoid and, depending on your case, hepatitis B and rabies. Drink only bottled or treated water. Medical care is very limited outside Moroni: travel insurance with medical evacuation cover isn't optional, it's effectively mandatory. The police number is 17.
Comoros isn't a resort destination, so you can travel fairly cheaply, although transfers between islands and imported food push the bill up. A backpacker can get by on about 35–55 USD a day (simple guesthouse or homestay, local food, shared taxis). A mid-range trip runs around 70–120 USD a day (simple hotel, car with driver for excursions, restaurant meals). And a comfortable plan, with Moroni's few good hotels or a lodge on Mohéli, starts at 150–250 USD per person per day.
Concrete examples (verified July 2026): the visa on arrival costs about 30 euros (about 32 USD); an inter-island domestic flight, 60–120 USD per leg; a ferry or speedboat ticket between islands, 20–40 USD; a shared taxi within town, less than 1 USD; hiring a car with driver for a day, 40–70 USD; a guided Karthala climb with tent and porter, 60–120 USD per person; a turtle or snorkelling excursion in Mohéli Marine Park, 30–60 USD. Bring all the cash (in euros) you'll need: outside Moroni there's almost nowhere to withdraw money.
Comoros is a Sunni Muslim country, with a blended Swahili, Arab and Bantu culture that shows in its architecture, dress and customs. The official languages are Comorian (Shikomori, close to Swahili), French — the language of administration, very useful for travellers — and Arabic. Spanish won't get you far; French will, and some English is spoken in tourism. Dress respectfully (shoulders and knees covered, especially women away from hotel beaches), ask permission before photographing people and bear in mind that during Ramadan many shops cut their hours.
It's a friendly, slow-paced society, where traditional weddings ('grand mariage') are a central social event that can last for days. For connectivity, buy a local SIM from Comoros Telecom or Telma as soon as you arrive: data is cheap but signal is patchy outside towns and in the mountains; hotel wifi is slow. Plugs are the European two-round-pin type (types C and E), 220V, so bring an adapter. One final tip: travel with time to spare. Inter-island flights run late, ferries depend on the sea and plans rearrange themselves; taking it with island patience is part of the Comorian experience.
In the Mozambique Channel, halfway between Africa and Madagascar, four volcanic islands rise out of the blue of the Indian Ocean: Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Ndzuani (Anjouan), Mwali (Mohéli) and Mahoré (Mayotte). The Arabs called them Djazair al-Qamar, "the islands of the moon", and that is where their name comes from. Settled more than a thousand years ago by Austronesian seafarers from Southeast Asia, by Bantu farmers from the African coast and by Arab and Persian merchants, the Comoros became a crossroads of the Indian Ocean: a corner of Swahili civilisation where cloves, ambergris and enslaved people changed hands, where coral-stone mosques flourished and where a constellation of small sultanates waged war without pause.
This is the complete history of the Comoros, from the first settlers of the Indian Ocean to the country of today. It is the story of the Shirazi and their sultanates, and of the French perfumers who turned these islands into "the perfume islands" with their fields of ylang-ylang and vanilla. It covers an independence proclaimed in 1975 that Mayotte chose to stay out of, a wound that is still open. And it follows a country that survived more than twenty coups, mercenaries such as the notorious Bob Denard and the separatism of its own islands, before reinventing itself as the Union of the Comoros. It is a tiny, fragile archipelago that bore almost every ill of Africa's 20th century and still keeps its charm intact.
Read the full history of Comoros →Pick a region and open each destination to see what to do, prices and how to get there.
These are the sources we cite most across this country's guides, with how many times each appears. Hard data —tickets, opening hours, requirements, transport— comes from the official source and carries the date we checked it. Restaurant and hotel picks come from guides and reviews, and we say so on each page.
