The smallest Comoros island and the least visited — pristine marine park, sea turtle nesting, and village life unchanged by tourism
Mohéli (Mwali in Comorian) is the smallest and least visited of the three main Comoros islands, with a population of around 60,000 and almost no tourist infrastructure by design. The Mohéli Marine Park — established in 2001, the first marine protected area in Comoros — covers 40km of the island's south coast, protecting coral reef systems, dolphins, whale sharks, and one of the Indian Ocean's most significant hawksbill and green sea turtle nesting beaches. The island's forest interior holds the last viable population of the Livingstone's flying fox, one of the world's largest bats, endemic to…
Mohéli was an independent sultanate — the Sultanate of Mwali — before French colonisation, maintaining its own royal lineage distinct from the larger sultanates of Grande Comore and Anjouan. The island was known for its fertility (more rainfall than the other islands due to its position in the archipelago) and sustained a relatively prosperous agricultural economy. At Comorian independence in 1975, Mohéli was the most reluctant participant — a small separatist movement sought union with Mayotte (which had voted to remain French) rather than the new Comoros state. The marine park's establishme…