Travel & Leisure 100 Greatest Tips, December 2012
Azura at Quilalea Private Island
Only 18 guests at a time are allowed at Quilalea, an 86-acre haven for dozens of nesting sea turtles and a dizzying array of marine and bird life. The nine coral-stone-and-thatch bungalows look onto a protected deepwater bay where Portuguese and Arab traders once plied their dhows. Follow the walking trail to the island’s dense, age-old baobab groves.

The Times Honeymoons, November 2012
Quilalea Private Island, Mozambique
To arrive here it’s a long haul journey, .. but it’s totally worth it because, located in the undiscovered north of Mozambique, Quilalea is truly a gem. The nine villas are surrounded by the most spectacular views of the Quirimbas Archipelago. The island is also a marine sanctuary, which guarantees a spot of thrilling snorkelling. Every day, you get to choose where to eat, from a relaxed seafood lunch on the beach to an unforgettable dinner on the veranda of your villa.

Elle Magazine Spain – Luxe Book, October 2012
Azura Quilalea Sólo para ti
Esta isla desierta, en el corazón del archipiélado mozambiqueño de las Quirimbas, es un auténtico refugio para los amantes de la naturaleza. Se puede alquilar entera, para disfrutarla en familia o con amigos, y cuenta con nueve villas dobles, todas al borde del mar. Para que la experiencia sea todavía más intensa, no tienen ni teléfono.

Sunday Times Travel – Desert Island Deluxe, October 2012
This private island is a dream for would-be Robinson Crusoes: a single resort of nine ensuite thatched villas with serene creme interiors and private decks overlooking a stonking beach, and a spa hanging over the water. As well as diving around the house reef – there is a Padi centre to prepare you for the 375 underwater species – there’s sailing and, helped by the dizzying 1300ft drop-offs , some of the best game fishing in Africa, with barracuda, tuna and sailfish.

Bite Magazine – Northern Mozambique, June 2012
Known throughout Africa as a conversation jewel, the area is home to myriad of wildlife both onshore and the surrounding pristine coral reefs. Sister property to Azura on Benguerra Island in Southern Mozambique, Azura at Quilalea opened at the end of 2011, and has just nine coral stone and makuti thatched villas situated on an otherwise uninhabited 86 acre island, surrounded by a protected marine sanctuary. The cliff-top spa offers signature African treatments based on local ingredients and traditions. The stunning location and rhythmical splashing of water aided the relaxation process as I was rubbed down with coconut shells, covered head to toe with tamarind and aloe, and gently massaged with warm marula oil. It smells delicious and leaves your skin soft and your mind at ease.

Vantage Magazine – Best of Both Worlds, June 2012
Northern Mozambique remains wild, beautiful and untamed, and, although getting around takes time, the coastal panoramas, sense of space and adventure, not to mention some of Africa’s most idyllic lodges, makes the journey well worthwhile. Along the coast, lapped by the Indian Ocean, is an endless succession of unspoilt beaches and islands. Keen to sample private island living, we drove to Pemba , for a short flight to the Quirimbas Archipelago and a 15 minute boat ride to Quilalea Island. As Quilalea is part of a marine sanctuary, the diving and snorkelling is of course superb, with over 375 different species of fish found within the sanctuary, and fantastic diving a mere 20 meters offshore on the house reef. Both Quilalea and adjacent Sencar Island are important breeding and nesting grounds for Olive Ridley, Green and Hawksbill turtles and they can be seen year round. Dolphins may also been seen year round, and Humpback whales may be spotted from July to October.

Sunday Times Travel – Robinson Crusoe Deluxe, May 2012
Out in the deeper water a speedboat is waiting for the final dash to Quilalea, a private island of just 34 hectares, where the staff give you a singing and dancing welcome as you splash through the shallows to the main beach. My immense villa has a high palm roof, hardwood floors and a plunge pool that appears to hover above the ocean beyond. When the floor-length lace curtains billow gently at night, five thick candles flickering on an extravagant white candelabra, I feel like I’m in a Sade video. In the early afternoon, I lunch on the deserted sands of Turtle Bay, candyfloss clouds on the horizon and leggy herons chasing eels flashing through the shallows. Under a starched white umbrella a table has been set up, listing under a weight of fresh seafood and white wine. Robinson, the world has moved on.

BA Highlife Magazine – A World Apart, May 2012
Seeking light and air, sheltering a pristine beach coiled in on itself like a prawn, and on a more distant cove a white honeymoon house with a wooden ladder down into warm water. Quilalea is properly remote. Here, I found it impossible to resist to stopping to touch the pretty sponges and starfish in the rock pools, wondering why I felt to at ease even though I was the furthest I have ever been from home. You’d think places like these are just full of rich idlers taking a break from perpetual trips around the world but everyone I meet is driven – by an astonished awareness that this is a rare place, simultaneously so hard and beautiful.

Ocean Indien Magazine – Actualité Tourisme, April 2012
Une destination authentique signée unique Azura Retreats
L’Azura Quilalea, qui a fait peau neuve en décembre dernier, comprend 9 villas, toutes conçues avec des matériaux indegènes: pierres coralliennes, meubles en bois sculptés, toiture makuti. Les activités nautiques vont du kayak or snorkelling en passant par la plongée du fait de son emplacement dans un réserve marine protégée. Avec sa petite plage and sa piscine privées, sa salle de bain de rêve avec baignoire oeuf, son grand lit à baldaquin avec jeté de coussins aux couleurs fauves, la Villa Quilalea est le repaire des amoreaux.

Brides Magazine – 2012 Hottest New hotels, March 2012
Azura at Quilalea Private Island
If you are looking for a post-safari flop of just a beach far from the madding honeymoon crowds, Mozambique has the stretch of sand for you. There are just nine villas and four beaches on this otherwise uninhabited island off the mainland’s coast, so the only company you’ll have are the island’s nesting turtles.

BA Highlife – Fly, March 2012
On our radar, Quirimbas, Mozambique
Dugout canoes lie scattered on the white sand beach of an isolated island in northern Mozambique’s Quirimbas archipelago. Come here for marine life that is hard to rival, or just to chill in pristine surroundings miles from the rest of the world. Developments are still in its infancy but there are some truly lovely places to stay, including the recently re-opened Azura at Quilalea Private Island, which has just nine gorgeous villas set on the 35 hectare palm fringed island.

Madame Magazine – Hotels, February 2012
Nach einer Safari im Krügerpark geht man auf Entdeckerskurs in der geschützten Unterwasserwelt des Quirimba-Archipels, Mosambik. Place to be: eine der neun Villen im “Azura at Quilalea Private Island”. Mit PADI-Tauchcenter.

House & Garden – A drop in the Ocean, January 2012
Set amongst a row of 32 spectacular coralline and sand islands that resemble a tide of electric-blue jellyfish washing up on a shore line, Quilalea is genuinely remote, malaria free and staggeringly beautiful. Wide grins, chilled facecloths and a tall drink welcome you to the main lodge that is arranged to deliver a sunset view through a baobab tree into the dancing blues of the Indian Ocean. Quilalea has an easy sexiness that is part nature and part style.

Food & Travel – Arrivals Chic Getaways, January 2012
Azura at Quilalea Private Island, Mozambique, sits on a sandy white beach surrounded by the Indian Ocean. Nine private villas come with natural furnishings, made from wood, rope and pebbles; indoor and outdoor showers, and private decks that stretch out over the beach. Head for the cliff-top Villa Quilalea for complete privacy- it comes with a luxury four-poster bed and plunge pool. Discover reef fish, green turtles and moray eels while snorkelling or explore the island on a traditional dhow.

Tatler Travel Guide – Private Islands Sensational Seclusion, December 2011
Azura at Quilalea, Quirimbas Archipelago, Mozambique
This island is spectacular by any standard. Dramatic exposed coral cliffs overhang powder-puff sand that slopes gently into living gardens of coral and anemones. Romantic dhows tack the horizon; fishermen scoop by in dug-out canoes. Dip your mask under the reef surface and a rare fish with flash a stripe or two at you. This is an island that is intelligently green as well as adventurous and crazily delicious.

TTG Winter – Alone at Last, November 2011
Given the current climate, you could be forgiven for thinking there would be a glut of private islands lying empty, but [writer] finds this is not the case, with even more on the horizon ready to open. Azura on Quilalea Private Island, Mozambique is the second luxury retreat from Christopher and Stella Bettany, the first being Azura Retreat on Benguerra Island. Azura’s trademark African-chic style has been brought to Quilalea, an uninhabited island surrounded by the pristine waters of a marine sanctuary.