Likoma is one of those places that feel outside the world: a remote island in the middle of Lake Malawi, with golden sand beaches, clear water full of colourful fish, centuries-old baobabs and total calm, topped off by a monumental surprise: a huge Anglican stone cathedral, one of the largest in all of central Africa, built by English missionaries in the early 20th century in the middle of nowhere.
Its history is as curious as its geography: Likoma and its neighbour Chizumulu are a Malawian enclave within Mozambican waters, much closer to the Mozambican shore than the Malawian one, and they belong to Malawi simply because this is where the Anglican mission that shaped their fate settled. That isolation kept them out of time: fishing villages, a simple life, no ATMs, no bustle, and a handful of lodges, from backpacker spots to the exclusive Kaya Mawa, for anyone after beaches and privacy.
This practical guide explains how to get to Likoma (on the Ilala ferry or by light aircraft), what to see and do on the island (the cathedral, the villages, the beaches, snorkelling, kayaking), where to stay and eat, and how to get around a place where almost everything is done on foot and with whatever cash you brought. A destination for truly switching off, on the shores of the 'lake of stars', on one of the most remote and beautiful islands in Africa.
Likoma owes its history to the Anglican mission of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), which settled on the island in 1885 seeking a safe refuge from the slave trade on the mainland. There, between 1903 and 1911, the missionaries built the monumental St Peter's Cathedral, one of the largest in central Africa, on the spot where, according to tradition, people accused of witchcraft were executed. Because of that mission, Likoma and Chizumulu remained an enclave of Malawi in Mozambican waters. Its story is told on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The Tonga coast of the north: the backpacker and diving port of Nkhata Bay, remote Likoma Island with its Anglican cathedral and the overland beaches of Kande.
Read the history of The north of the lake →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Likoma is a small island of about 18 km² in the northern part of Lake Malawi, the great inland sea of the Rift Valley. Together with its even smaller neighbour, Chizumulu, it forms an archipelago that fishing communities have lived on for centuries. Dotted with huge baobabs and ringed by sandy beaches and rocky coves, the island lived for generations by the rhythm of the lake: fishing for 'chambo' and 'usipa', and farming to get by.
Likoma's great geographical quirk is where it sits. It is much closer to the lake's eastern shore, which now belongs to Mozambique, than to the Malawian shore, which lies dozens of kilometres away across the water. For centuries, being so close tied it to the people on both shores and to the routes that crossed the lake, in a region where water connected people more than it divided them.
In the 19th century, Likoma and the area around it were hit, like the whole lake, by the slave trade that was devastating central Africa, with raids and people trafficked towards the Indian Ocean coast. That situation, and the European push against slavery inspired by David Livingstone, gave the island an unexpected future: it became the base of a large Anglican mission.
After David Livingstone died in 1873, his call to fight the slave trade and bring Christianity to the African interior stirred the British churches into action. One response was the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), an Anglican mission backed by English universities. After failed attempts on the mainland, the mission looked for a safe base, and in 1885 it chose the island of Likoma.
Choosing an island was no accident. Surrounded by water, Likoma offered protection from slave raids and from the tensions on the mainland. It was also a stable base from which to evangelise and educate the people on both shores of the lake. The mission grew strongly: the Anglicans set up schools, a hospital, workshops and a Christian community, and from Likoma they spread their work across the north of the lake, training African teachers and clergy.
The bond between the island and the British mission would decide its political future. During the colonial carve-up of Africa, borders were drawn between British Nyasaland and Portuguese Mozambique. Likoma and Chizumulu lie in waters close to the Portuguese coast, but they ended up on the British side precisely because of their close ties to the Anglican mission. That is how the curious Malawian enclave was born, and it still sits today inside the Mozambican waters of the lake.
The greatest symbol of the mission, and of the island, is St Peter's Cathedral, one of the most astonishing religious buildings in central Africa. The UMCA built it between 1903 and 1911. It is a huge Gothic Revival stone church with a nave, transept, tower, stained-glass windows, a magnificent choir with carved stalls, and frescoes. Its size and quality are startling on such a remote island. It is said to have the same dimensions as Winchester Cathedral in England.
Tradition has it that the cathedral stands on the spot where people accused of witchcraft were once executed. The missionaries chose that symbolism on purpose, to mark the end of the old practices and the triumph of the new faith. European know-how was combined with local materials and labour, and the result was a monumental building that still leaves travellers stunned when they reach the island expecting nothing but beaches and fishing villages.
The cathedral made Likoma the centre of Anglicanism on the lake and the seat of a diocese. It is still an active place of worship and the island's great monument. Its imposing bulk, visible from many points on the island and from the water, is the story of Likoma set in stone: a remote island that, thanks to a Victorian mission, is home to one of the largest cathedrals in this part of Africa.
Under British rule, as part of the Nyasaland protectorate, life on Likoma still revolved around the mission and fishing. Anglican schooling educated generations of islanders, and many reached an unusually high level of education for the time. Remote as it was, the island stayed connected to the religious and cultural currents of the empire through the mission.
Shipping on the lake kept Likoma linked to the rest of Nyasaland. Steamers, and later the Ilala ferry, launched in 1951, called at the island, carrying passengers, goods, mail and clergy back and forth. This lifeline to the mainland, slow but steady, was vital then and still is, for a community with no resources of its own beyond fishing and farming.
When Malawi became independent in 1964, Likoma and Chizumulu were confirmed as part of the new country and kept their status as an enclave in Mozambican waters. The island carried on with its quiet, out-of-the-way life, shaped by the cathedral, fishing and the ferry timetable, far from the development and the tourism that would arrive, hesitantly, decades later.
Today Likoma pairs its isolation and authenticity with a small but growing tourist presence. The island draws travellers looking for exactly what it offers: dreamy, almost untouched beaches, clear water full of cichlids, baobabs, fishing villages, total calm, and the monumental surprise of its cathedral. It is a place to switch off for real, with no cash machines, no crowds and the slow rhythm of the lake.
Places to stay range from campsites and backpacker lodges, where travellers arriving on the Ilala ferry tend to end up, to the exclusive Kaya Mawa. It is one of the most romantic and famous lodges in Africa, with stone villas above private coves, and it regularly appears on honeymoon destination lists. Between the two extremes, the island keeps its simple way of life, its hospitality and a strong identity tied to the church and the water.
From a refuge from slavery to the base of a great Anglican mission, from a colonial enclave to a remote tourist gem, Likoma sums up a story found nowhere else on Lake Malawi. Its improbable cathedral, its status as a Malawian island in Mozambican waters and its quiet beauty make it one of the most fascinating and unusual places in the whole country: a slice of history and of paradise in the middle of the 'lake of stars'.
