Authentic Local Character

Our Promise

Not Just Another Beach

So many tour operators offer the same old generic and charmless beach resorts which entirely lack any authentic local character. At Barefoot Breaks we’re frankly allergic to these “rack ‘em, pack ‘em, stack ‘em” cookie cutter resorts, which could be located on just about any beach or island in the world.

Since launching Barefoot Breaks we’ve avoided these bigger, bland, less characterful resorts like the plague, as they simply don’t hit the same heights that smaller, more intimate and personal beach lodges do. Instead we aim to only sell lodges and resorts that ooze local character and authenticity, and where you get a real feel for the island destination you are visiting.

70Island lodges, hotels and hideaways currently on the Barefoot Breaks list

5Island destinations we specialise in, from Mozambique to the Maldives

18Properties in our Barefoot Style collection: rustic, but wonderfully stylish

Local Character

You should know where you woke up.

Take the branding off most big beach resorts and you would struggle to name the country. The same marble lobby, the same buffet, the same music by the same pool. It could be the Indian Ocean, it could be anywhere, and after a week you would have learned very little about either.

The lodges we love do the opposite. We look for buildings put up by local hands out of makuti thatch, mangrove poles and island timber. We look for a kitchen that cooks whatever the boats brought in that morning, and a team drawn from the village up the beach. Above all we look for places that could not be picked up and dropped on another coastline without losing the whole point of themselves.

It is this true local flavour together with the more intimate ambience that so many of our properties boast which adds hugely to the atmosphere that you enjoy as a guest, and which ultimately makes for an unforgettable holiday experience.

See our Barefoot Style lodges

A wooden dhow turned into a beach bar under a sail awning and palm trees at dusk, with chairs set out on the sand

What Character Actually Looks Like

Character is not a word a brochure should be allowed to claim for itself, so here is what we actually mean by it. These are the things we look for when we walk into a property, and the things we tell you about honestly when they are missing.

Not every island suits every traveller, and a lodge with bags of soul may also mean no air-conditioning and a resident gecko above the bed. That is exactly why it pays to talk to someone who has been there before you book.

An open-sided lounge under a thatched roof of mangrove poles, looking out over white sand to a calm sea at sunset

01

Built by island hands

Makuti thatch, mangrove poles and island timber rather than concrete and glass. Open-sided lounges that let the trade wind do the air-conditioning, and craftwork made a few kilometres up the road.

A bed dressed with brightly printed local cotton under a mosquito net, with a rolled white towel laid across it

02

Rooms that could only be here

Kanga and kapulana prints, carved doors and shutters, a mosquito net you are genuinely pleased to sleep under. Small things, but they are the difference between a room and a memory.

A platter of whole grilled fish served on banana leaves with lime, tomato, pineapple and a bowl of piri-piri sauce

03

Dinner that tastes of the place

Whole fish off the morning boat, piri-piri, coconut, lime and whatever the garden gave up that day. We would take that over an international buffet every single time.

Character Comes In Different Shapes

Tell us how you want the place to feel.
We will name the lodges.

Barefoot and rustic, or stylish and fully serviced? Send us the mood you are after along with your dates and budget, and we will come back with the properties that genuinely fit, plus the honest reasons why.

Start an enquiry

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