Where safari meets the sea – without the crowds

The traditional safari-beach pairing is evolving as luxury travellers trade familiar routes for discreet destinations that deliver genuine seclusion

A bucket-list travel experience and a globally dominant holiday preference walk into a bar. It’s not a joke; it’s the start of a story about one of travel’s most coveted pairings. 

The classic safari–beach combination is an enduring holiday category. The balance of adventure and relaxation presents a dreamy double act, where jaw-dropping wonder (animal kingdom edition) meets jaw-dropping wonder (paradise edition).  

While the partnership continues to prevail, luxury travellers – always in search of the next iteration – are increasingly finding it on paths less trodden. More secluded, more distinctive, more immersive.

Various luxury tour operators are well attuned to this desire, curating premium itineraries that champion quieter yet comparable alternatives to the long-renowned destinations.

Yellow Zebra Safaris is one such provider. The tour operator is renowned for crafting bespoke itineraries and has a discerning eye for undiscovered adventures. Take Liuwa Plains National Park in Zambia, Africa’s second largest wildebeest migration, and a compelling alternative to its famous counterpart. While The Great Migration sightings are commonly overrun with safari vehicles, Liuwa Plains’ 45,000-wildebeest crossing, spanning 3500 square kilometers, takes place with remarkably few other visitors in sight.

With Yellow Zebra, pair a stay at the remote, design-led King Lewanika Lodge with a visit to Mozambique’s pristine Bazaruto Archipelago. Azura Benguerra, set within indigenous gardens just steps from the sand, provides an idyllic beachside getaway that rivals the Seychelles, but with a greater sense of stillness.

Even within well-trodden regions, there are ways to find space, and Abercrombie & Kent is another operator sourcing these untouched spoils. Its Kenya Safari and Beach Adventure is a classic example. Although Kenya is far from undiscovered, A&K moves away from the mass-market safari routes to provide guests with the gift of space.

The 11-day journey focuses on Kenya’s lesser-known national parks and conservancies, where wildlife sightings are abundant and fellow tourists are not. After the thrill of spotting the Big Five, make a big splash in the spangled waters of Kenya’s Diani coastline. Here, Kinondo Kwetu is your dreamy hideaway. The family-run retreat, set on a private stretch of the white-sand beach, epitomises barefoot luxury, making it the perfect end note to your time in the wild.

Across continents and coastlines

Although you can’t beat Africa for the sheer number of safari experiences, comparable magic can be found in other corners of the world. Tours such as Discover Sri Lanka’s Secret Side, delivered by Black Tomato, demonstrate how. 

The journey moves through some of Sri Lanka’s greatest hits, but pulls you away from the crowds, starting in the remote reaches of Wilpattu National Park. Undisturbed by visitor numbers and prized for its leopard population, Wilpattu is also home to sloth bears, elephants, barking deer and nearly 150 varieties of birds. Following a cultural interlude in Sigiriya, the experience concludes on the golden sands of Uga Bay, positioned on Sri Lanka’s serene east coast. 

While The Great Migration sightings are commonly overrun with safari vehicles, Liuwa Plains’ 45,000-wildebeest crossing, spanning 3500 square kilometers, takes place with remarkably few other visitors in sight

Back in East Africa, the pace shifts and the grand Rufiji River becomes a defining presence. &Beyond has curated a nine-night itinerary that captures both the adventure and romance of Tanzania. After a night in Dar Es Salaam, the journey continues in the vast Selous Game Reserve, a little-visited sanctuary of unfiltered wilderness.

Named for Frederick Courteney Selous, one the most renowned of the 19^th century’s ‘great white hunters’, and recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the reserve is home to the Big Five, plus buffalo, hippo and antelope in huge numbers and the more elusive African wild dog, sable and puku antelope. The Rufiji, with its branching waterways and floodplains, provides an opportunity for water-based safaris, complementing the traditional game drives and guided walks.

Then, while crowds beeline for Zanzibar, you’ll land on Pemba Island for an equally tropical but more secluded reset. Part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Pemba Island is defined by thick, clove-scented hills, mangrove-fringed shores and deep, glassy waters teeming with marine life. A spectacle of colour and movement awaits keen divers and snorkellers, and scuba courses are available on site.

Remoteness as reward

Back in Zambia, Bench Africa offers a safari-beach pairing of a different kind. First stop, award-winning Tongabezi, a picturesque eco-lodge hidden on the banks of the Zambezi, just 12 kilometres downstream from Victoria Falls in Livingston.

Stretch your safari legs at nearby Mosi-oa Tunya National Park before moving on to the remote reaches of South Luangwa National Park. On the riverbank in the Nsefu Sector, in the park’s most remote corner, Shawa Luangwa Camp provides exclusive access to what is one of Zambia’s most rewarding safari destinations.  

For the beach portion of this itinerary, don’t be fooled by the lakeside locale – the tiny island of Likoma, set in the middle of Lake Malawi, is every bit as blissful as an oceanside getaway. Peppered with huge baobab trees, stunning sandy beaches and rocky coves, Likoma is a freshwater paradise and boasts excellent watersports and diving.

And at the edge of the map, Madagascar is, perhaps, the most remote example of them all. Through its Epic Madagascar itinerary, Scott Dunn offers a journey that evolves from forest to shore while carrying the spirit of a last frontier. With its eerie jungle soundtrack, punctuated by unique call of the Indri lemur, Andasibe-Mantadia National Park will transport travellers into an otherworldly setting. Guided walks reveal the world’s largest lemur species, swinging effortlessly between branches, as well as chameleons (look closely!), the cute-as-a-button mouse lemur and a dynamic tapestry of amphibians, reptiles and insects. 

Speaking of cute-as-a-button, the tiny private island of Tsarabanjina is the ultimate castaway-style escape. The island’s only lodge, Constance Tsarabanjina, is one of Madagascar’s most isolated, offering 25 thatched bungalows and unmatched access to nirvana.