Mayoka Village | Hostel

February 22nd, 2024 by andy

Excellent place to stay in Nkhata Bay. The bay itself is busy but this accommodation we found peaceful and you can swim in the lake directly from the bar. The owners also agreed to look after our car when we went to Likoma Island .... worth asking . Would recommend staying here !

September 8th, 2023 by greta-does-africa.com

Although a very nice place and worth a stopover, Nhkata Bay is very noisy nowadays, and between lots of calls to prayers and bar/club music blaring out till late it's difficult to get a decent night sleep here anymore.

August 12th, 2023 by @michaeldmacdonald

$5ppn for camping. If you’re cycling you’ll have to carry your bikes down 60 or so steps, Butterfly Lodge is the same. It didn’t seem to deter people - we met more cycle tourers (7!) in our 6 days here than we have in the entire rest of Africa since Cape Town combined. We enjoyed swimming and using the free paddleboards, kayaks, snorkels. It’s a peaceful place with no noise at night.

Sunday is pizza night - definitely the best food they offer. They have free potable water on tap to the right of the restaurant bar.

Bilharzia: Lake Malawi is known to harbour the worms that cause Bilharzia. Staff told us it’s not a problem here as the water around the campsite is deep and there’s often waves. Even still we got the recommended Bilharzia medication (1000 Kwacha per tablet - roughly 4-5 tablets needed) from the clinic in town.

July 1st, 2023 by farhaandharani

We stayed one night in Mayoka, and one night in Butterfly. Mayoka is a bit more upscale and better looked after. Facilities are better. We got good coffee in the room on the house. This is a good quiet place for people who do not want to party with people in their 20s. Mayoka did however over charge us at the end of our stay. Check your bill properly. Less lively than butterfly.

June 24th, 2023 by instagram.com/bowser_offroad

A very nice location to stay in one of the rooms, but for overlanders theres only a very small guarded parking lot for 4 or 5 cars (if you have a tent not folding out to the side). there are some small locations for a tent on the property. We came here because they know a good mechanic, who helped us out with basic stuff. Its a beautiful location to swim, have diner and drinks.

May 7th, 2023 by mdvgroen

Mixed feelings about this place. We checked out several places in Nkhata Bay but none is really suitable for camping/overlanding (car with rooftop). This place seemed to be the best option as you can stay in the car park. Be aware that, especially during weekends, it can get pretty noisy with people coming in and out of the bar. There’s also no facilities at the car park so you’ll end up walking back and forth up the hill every time. Vibe in and around the bar is really nice. No hot water when we were there. Like I said, it’s fine to stay for a night or so, but not a great place for campers like us.

May 6th, 2023 by Overlanderdream

We came here with our car with rooftop tent and asked if we could camp here (since there is not a lot of camping places available around here). We were told that we could stay on the parking lot and price is $5 per person, non negotiable.
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Honestly the price is ridiculously high for staying at the entrance of a bar/restaurant. Lot of noise in the night from stray dogs and people coming in and out. If you would like to go to the toilet/shower/bar you will need to walk a lot of stairs to get there as well.

Of course we knew what we were getting into when agreeing to this, since staying at a parking lot is never ideal. However I think they could have handled the situation a lot better. I mentioned to them that I thought the price is very high when checking out, but they did not seem to care or want to hear any feedback. Furthermore their exchange rate for paying in kwacha was way off as well (150 kwacha more per dollar than the actual rate).

Have to say the bar/restaurant area is very nice with a good vibe though. Great view of the lake and we had some good pizza on sunday night (after we send them back since they were a bit doughy).

Last but not least I would like to ask management to give the security guards some mosquito repellent. Poor guys sitting outside all night without any repellent. Naturally we gave them some of ours.

April 26th, 2023 by ianandersen10

Recommend to check your bill carefully and do the math yourself while in Africa. At least half the time my bill is wrong and for some strange reason it never works out in my favor. On this occasion it was off by over 5000. Not much reaction from staff on pointing out errors. Might be directed top down or the staff may be skimming from ownership, cash only unless you want to pay 5% CC fee. No receipt offered. Otherwise the place is as described below.

December 4th, 2022 by RollingStones

Fascinating place. It built down a cliff face to the water so shouldbe totally unsuitable for people like us, a family camping out of a car, with a large tent. But we all fell in love with the place and decided to stay. We wouldn't have been able to fit our tent on any of their campsites, and it would've been so heavy to carry down the hill from the parking area. So we slept in hammocks strung from the one covered camp area, right on the water. It was perfect! Camping is $5pppn. Another alternative would be the cottages. The restaurant was lovely and there are kayaks, snorkels, masks and find for free use. Good airtel reception. We are coming back.

November 30th, 2022 by matthew-shields

Lovely place!

Just wanted to add that we were torn over staying at Mayoka or Butterfly. We talked to people that had stayed in both, also we had a look at each before deciding - it was quite an easy choice to go with Mayoka. It's in much better condition and generally much nicer, especially if camping (we put our tent under a cabana right next to the lake).

October 19th, 2022 by on-the-road-again.nl

Lovely place to stay when in Nkhata Bay. Rooms have a good price for what you get. Snorkeling/kayak and paddleboards are inclusive. Nice backpackersvibe an friendly staff. Just some things we didn't especially liked: big cockroaches inside toilets and bathroom because of the composttoilet. They said they can't really do anything about it, except cleaning (what they forgot to do one day). Also there was a local dude who hang around here and at butterfly lodge who, after a nice talk, try to sell some had some kind of spacecake. Not really our thing and I think a place where also families with children come should have these kind of things. Had the feeling that owners/staff could be more 'active' present on these matters. But maybe we are just being too critical 😉. Other than that a nice place to hang out a few days.

September 13th, 2022 by sebabernao

The place it’s amazing. Highly recommend everybody to go.
Shared dorms for 12k. Kayak , paddle boards and snorkel equipment for free if you are a guest.
Mayoka os in better conditions than butterfly space. You can stay in mayoka and hang out in butterfly

March 3rd, 2022 by ytierie

We were debating if should stay at Mayoka or Butterfly Space. We choose Mayoka. I think the rooms are better at Mayoka (although there is a big difference between the rooms!) but the vibe and bar is better at Butterfly.
If you stay here ask for room 4! It’s by far the prettiest and close to the ablutions (which is far from some of the other cabins).
Overal Nkata bay wasnt very interesting. Better go to Cape clear or Likoma!
There is also a new owner so maybe things will change from now on!

October 20th, 2021 by samgdickinson

camping not possible although we were given a good rate for a room ($5pppn) as a result. somewhere that is probably best when a little busier and places are still recovering from COVID, nonetheless we ended up going across to butterfly next door after a few nights because the atmosphere seemed better.

November 20th, 2020 by finding-neverland.com

Maybe we got here with too high expectations due to the nice comments but it wasn't our favorite place for sure. The staff was very friendly but food and accommodation was just okay. In fact the room including the bed was quite dirty. We even had to see the dogs peeing in the restaurant... Maybe it's due to Corona and tourism being down for month now that it's challenging to maintain the whole place well. However, compared to other places the food is definitely overpriced.

October 23rd, 2019 by ronelle.duck

Can't add much more more to the existing comments. We stayed here (in the parking area in our truck) a few days and really enjoyed the swimming, snorkeling and free use of the water equipment. Parking is very small but we managed to fit in. Unfortunately we couldn't go on the free boat trip and daily activities as it was cancelled every day. It is fantastic that they have different payment options but take note they don't mention that there is a 1% community levy extra. Other places we stay automatically include this levy in the price. All and all we enjoyed our stay here.
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April 23rd, 2019 by tschoe-wa.de

We had a great time here! We camped in our roof top tent in the parking lot for 5$ ppn. Very quit every time. There is a watchman 24 h so you can leave your tent for your whole stay! (very nice people that don't bother you). If you have a ground tent you can stay on flat areas with lake view!
The common area and the bar is very nice for relaxing! Drinks are very tasty, good size and have reasonable prices for that location (self made limoande/ice tea/iced coffe...) food is more expensive but you also have the option to cook by yourself. At the entrance there is a sign: don't bring your own food! but it was ok to have own breakfast at the lakeshore away from the restaurant.
Big plus: Every evening special food offers (pizza,kebab buffet....) , Kajaks and Stand up paddle and snorkel gear for free. And Tuesday boat trip for free incl. beer on the boat!
Swimming is fantastic in that area!
Totally recommended!!!

March 29th, 2019 by instagram.com/eric.from.thebronx

Mixed review. Facilities all very nice, nice hot showers, bar area is nice and big and good vibe, two good areas to get into the water from and lots of chairs to chill around the water.
Campsites facing the water with a covering to keep that rain out.
Restaurant is expensive. A cup of tea is 1000 Kwacha ($1.38), you can eat a while meat dinner at a local restaurant for this. Lots of meals for 5000 Kwacha ($6.90) which is a small fortune here.
They have a book exchange with a good number of books, but you have to leave TWO books to get one, even though they have plenty already.
The lady at reception was not very helpful. I asked how much a taxi/van is to Nhkotakota, she said "I don't know".

November 21st, 2018 by Khayaonwheels

Still a great place beautifully built against the rocks. Great menu choices for reasonable amounts and lots of (free) activities. Easy place to stay a couple of days! Camping 5USD although in the parking lot...

September 12th, 2018 by santyramses

Camping not ideal. I slept in the car park for free. Free boat trip on Tuesdays, a touristy thing but actually quite nice - and for free. Free kayaks, SUP and snorkeling gear. Restaurant not great and quite expensive. Lots of rats, dogs, ants, lizards and monkeys everywhere. Bungalows 35-45$, they also offer dorms. Probably still best option in town tho.

August 21st, 2018 by pietervercampt

Mayoka village
very nice location, beautiful scenery, although not really ideal for camping. there is one nice camping spot but no power at site. Also you need to move your stuff a lot of stairs down! There is a nice bar but there are scheduled power outages so to charge you have to wait until power is back on. You have to use a tab for food and drinks but just watch your tab in the morning as she calculates very fast the bill and sometimes uses different prices then on the menu (happy hour cocktail get Fe fully priced etc). you don't get a receipt with all items just total price to pay. in total we were overcharged for 5000 kwatcha. owner was not there, could not ask him about normal procedure.

May 9th, 2018 by vitolawr

Great place to relax and meet other people. Free kayaks, surfboards and snorkels! Also the free snorkel trips on Mondays and the free boat/beach trips on Tuesday are amazing! Slept in our rooftop tent in the car park, which was really ok for the price we negotiated. Bar and Food was great but quite pricy compared to what you get in town. I can highly recommend this place with all their free offers.

May 5th, 2018 by kadoodles

Relaxed atmosphere and setting in a calm bay, free gear is a big plus. Nice people and a great stay overall

May 1st, 2018 by anna.pepper27

We asked to sleep in our car in the car park but they wouldn't allow this, instead they gave a discount on the dorm rooms to camping price, 5,000 pppn.
Restaurant/bar is very nice, also have free snorkles, paddle boards and kayaks although they aren't great quality.

April 22nd, 2018 by wildwonderfulworld.com

A crazy place of little hits on a steep hillside! As below, not a good place for camping - rooftop camping only in the car park and ground tent campsites small and limited. Owner kindly upgraded us to a dorm for the same price as camping - $5pp. Great vibe, food good and nice happy hour. Free kayaks and paddle boards absolute bonus and nice area to paddle around and snorkel. WiFi broken while we were there - free WiFi across the bay in Aqua Dive Cafe apparently.

November 9th, 2017 by johnnyandrobs

Nowhere in Nkhata bay has nice camping for rooftops so we opted for a room here. Such a beautiful setting with great food and lovely vibe. Room was clean and spacious. Not the most comfortable bed but we slept well. Awesome that they have free kayaks, SUPs, and boat trips (?on a Tuesday I think). Beautiful bay for swimming too. Recommend 🙌🏼🙌🏼

September 10th, 2017 by stannettsgotoafrica

Very nice part of Lake Malawi with good swimming and great food. There was no accommodation available when we arrived to lady let us sleep in our roof top tent for 4 nights for free in the car park. Carpark is small, very noisy throughout the night and not really suitable for camping (hence no charge). We were not impressive with one of the owners who had a serious alcohol problem and was socially inappropriate to people on several night and drove his car away, hammered on two occasions narrowly missing hitting our car as we slept in the tent. Overall a cool spot but in hindsight, not sure we are happy to support this sort of place.

May 12th, 2017 by Someone's life

Really lovely place run by a nice family, great views, social atmosphere, especially on weekends (there was live local music on Saturday night). Food is great, though a bit pricy. There are different themed buffet dinners available each night. The free water activities are a nice touch. I asked about camping and they upgraded me to a dorm for the same price. They also run a school and take volunteers. There is no longer free wifi.

April 3rd, 2017 by freezerbirdtravel

The nicer option out of the two accommodation offers next to each other. Food is great, rooms are light and airy and there are paddle boards and canoes available.

September 24th, 2016 by vrijwilligdoorafrika

Best option in Nkhata Bay at the moment. Amazing place with great views, swimming and free boat trips etc., free Wi-Fi. Lots of travellers which makes it a relaxed but lively place. Great restaurant, well run, lots of homemade food for good prices. Camping in rooftop tent possible in parking lot but not ideal. You can get the price for dorms or rooms down quite easily if not busy. Nice showers, compost toilets. Super friendly, good and relaxed staff!

July 15th, 2016 by facebook.com/wheelieadventurous/

Excellent accommodation on the lake side, good bar and restaurant, pizza on Wed & Sun. Live music Wed. This is a lively place where the young come but also for all ages and families. Free boat trips, snorkeling gear, kayak and dugout canoes. Camping available away from vehicle for 5$ pppn, dorms 12$pppn rooms for 45$. Parking should have security but I went a few times and no one was there. A small carpark but maybe you could setup a rooftop tent. Highly recommended place.