🇲🇬Madagascar

Ask each operator for a current weather and tide decision, certification and medical screening, maximum depth, guide-to-diver ratio, functional oxygen and first aid, communications, boat identification, lifejackets and recovery procedures. Depth and current exposure differ widely across Nosy Be walls, Diego Bay, Sainte-Marie sites, Anakao reefs and Ranobe Bay passes. Avoid overhead or wreck penetration without specific certification. Do not dive or freedive alone; a snorkel guide is not automatically a rescue-trained freedive safety diver. Maintain conservative no-fly intervals before onward aircraft and communicate any suspected decompression injury immediately to local emergency services and DAN.

Healthcare capability, ambulances and definitive decompression treatment can be limited or inaccessible from offshore islands and remote beaches. No currently functioning nearby recompression chamber was independently verified for all five regions. Before departing, obtain written operator evacuation procedures, insurer authorization contacts and the nearest realistic stabilization facility. Madagascar has malaria transmission risk; discuss preventive medication and vaccinations with a travel clinic before arrival. Carry prescriptions, an appropriate first-aid kit and offline contacts. For a suspected diving emergency, activate local emergency services first, provide oxygen if trained and available, and consult DAN for medical coordination. Never delay acute medical assessment while trying to find a chamber independently.

Nosy Tanihely is a zoned marine park: obey designated mooring and swim areas, tickets and prohibitions on collecting marine life or damaging reefs. Nosy Hara has separate national-park entry and protected habitats including turtles, mangroves and islets. Reef Doctor documents community-managed Massif des Roses and Ankarajelita reserves in Ranobe Bay and significant degradation beyond some protected patches. CetaMada and the Madagascar Whale Shark Project describe legally regulated wildlife observation under the December 2023 marine-megafauna code. Never touch, feed, corner or chase turtles, whale sharks or marine mammals; avoid propellers near animals and do not book unverified swimming-with-humpbacks tours. Respect fishing villages, local customary rules and seabird nesting zones.