Africa holidays are a medley of silky-smooth beaches, epic sand dunes and top-notch watersports. Plus, there are more ancient sights than you can shake a guide book at.

Boatloads of beaches

You can’t chat about Africa and not give its stunning shorelines a shout out. The entire continent’s dusted with swathes to suit every occasion. Morocco’s action-packed numbers plate up tonnes of watersports, whereas lots of Tunisia’s come with a side order of seafood eateries. Zoom out from Africa’s mainland, however, and you’ll find an extra dollop of A-list beaches to kick back on. The headliners are in Mauritius, off of Africa’s east coast. The whole island flaunts over 300 kilometres of fluffy coastline, which sinks into the toasty-warm water of the Indian Ocean.

Pharaohs and red forts

Sights-wise, holidays to Africa dish up over a thousand years of ancient history for you to get your mitts on. Morocco and Egypt, in particular, have history fans and culture vultures covered. The former’s leading lady is the city of Marrakech. It’s filled to the brim with ruby-red castles, palaces, bazaars and temples – some of which date back to the 1100s. Elsewhere, in Egypt, you can load up your holiday with a daytrip to the Valley of the Kings for a gander around its ancient tombs.

Scuba diving, snorkelling and surfing

Morocco’s Agadir, Mauritius and Egypt’s Marsa Alam are a couple of African holiday hotspots that dish up a heap of watersports for you to sample. The former’s fully stocked with everything from jet-skiing and surfing, while Marsa Alam is a nailed-on choice for scuba diving. Here, you can throw on a mask and an oxygen tank and get up close to colourful coral reefs and time-tested shipwrecks. Over on Mauritius, the island’s cling-film-clear water is made for snorkelling. Head to Blue Bay Beach – on the south-east coast – and you can swim out into the bay and say hello to big-beaked parrotfish and brightly coloured blue tang.

AT A GLANCE

  • Make sand angels on a beach in Mauritius
  • Flash some cash during a shopping spree in Marrakech’s souks
  • Rip across massive sand dunes during a quadbike ride in Egypt

COUNTRIES IN AFRICA