Capital of the South, Tuléar is a low-lying and large town, inhabited mainly by the Vezo.  This explains the existence of several districts/villages initially reflecting clans.  One of the town’s nicknames is « Tsy Miroro » or the town that never sleeps!  It refers to the coolness brought by the early evening, following the scorching heat of the day. Tuléar plays its role of crossroad-town to the beat of Tsapiky but there is more to it than that.  It has its seashell market, its small Traditional Mahafaly Art Museum, its jewelry shops, its Halieutic Institute displaying the prehistorical cœlacanth and fished in the Saint Augustine Bay in 1995; its sea garden.  Do not miss the arboretum of Antsokay, 10 km South-East and the Indian fig tree or banyan of Miary, 7 km to the East.  The vegetation “architecture” is simply amazing!  Finally, the town is virtually equidistant to Itampolo in the South and Andavadoaka in the North.  Between these two villages lies the second largest coral reef in the world (after the Australian one). It represents a priceless wealth for this Riviera. 

 27 km in the North of Tuléar, Ifaty is a dream site where excellent hotels and diving centres have been established.  Here is the heart of the coral reef of the South West.  In Ifaty , it is intercalated by channels which link the sea to the lagoon.  Inside it, the fabulous landscape characterized by corals, sea anemone, and sponges reveals itself according to the tides.

Close to Ifaty the Reniala Private Park shelters a very wealthy endemic biodiversity.  The Tanànan’ny Sokake  or Tortoises’ Village takes in animals seized from traffickers.  The “starred” tortoises are the most sought after for their flesh and constitute the majority of the inhabitants of the “Village”.