A tiny seashore town, 90km south of Morondava and cut off from the mainland for up to five months of the year during the rainy season, Belo sur Mer is one of the west coast’s biggest traditional boat-building centres, specializing in the large dhows known as boutres. 

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This village, with its small houses and huts lies on the border of a small lagoon with a beautiful beach, is the regional ship-building centre with huge cargo-vessels lie along the palm-fringed lagoon. These ships are built using the same designs as centuries back. The construction is done by hand and takes about four to six years to completion.