Lying on the thatched wooden deck of my beachside villa, it’s difficult to imagine that ten years ago Mozambique was racked by a civil war that left more than 100,000 dead and thousands injured by landmines.

Or that four years ago vast tracts of the southern sector that I flew over were submerged under floods that killed 700 and made more than 500,000 homeless. And that the United Nations recently classed it as one of the ten poorest nations in the world, with over 90 per cent unemployment.

Given the number of private planes that buzzed over the 30,000-hectare private marine and wildlife sanctuary where I holidayed, just outside one of the main seaside towns of Vilanculos, the country’s fortunes are on their way up.

Prince Harry recently stayed across the bay at the luxurious sand dune island of Bazaruto, where southern Africa’s rich come to play. Around the corner, all 52 of the 50sq m beachside plots in the private Vilanculos Wildlife Sanctuary have been snapped up for holiday homes by investors ranging from the Oppenheimer family to Elton John.

Islands are booked out by magazines for shoots, and design consultants jet in with fabric swatches and shell tie-backs. Alongside the hand-hewn dhows anchored in the turquoise bays, monstrous white speedboats bob, their polished chrome fittings gleaming in the sun.

Hand-painted signs for seafood restaurants beckon drivers from the dirt roads with promises of lobster, giant prawns, fresh calamari and cold South African chenin blanc. Even the local dusty town has a freshly painted gelateria (albeit a very African one, with vendors lined up on the pavement outside selling piles of tomatoes and bags of cashew nuts).

From being a country blighted by poverty and war, Mozambique has risen to become the new holiday hotspot in Africa and one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world. Not that it is the country’s first taste of tourism. In the Sixties and Seventies, before the war for independence that saw Samora Machel’s Frelimo party wrest power from its Portuguese colonisers in 1975, and the civil war that ended only in 1992, Mozambique had more tourist visitors than South Africa and Rhodesia combined (in 1972, 292,000).

The booming port of Beira thronged with Rhodesian and South African holidaymakers, lured by 2,500km of sandy coastlines, cheap seafood and Portuguese wine, and seas teeming with life, from colourful coral reefs to giant marlin. With foreign aid, on which its economy depends, the Government is intent on bringing the boom days back. In the capital, Maputo, the rich and famous are once again frequenting the exclusive Polana Hotel.

On the coast there is frenzied building, as investors turn their eye from relatively expensive South African property to magnificent palm-treed plots looking over some of the most lush, white-sanded coasts in Africa. Most of the tourist activity is in the south – around Beira, Inhambane and Vilanculos – where inexpensive hotels are being built for the southern African market: simple thatched villas, holiday timeshares and basic B&Bs.

However, it is to the islands that the luxury holiday market is being lured: to isolated, unspoilt havens previously used only for temporary fishing camps. Flying in on a twin-prop six-seater from the northern town of Pemba to Quilalea was not dissimilar to flying into Lamu or Zanzibar from Kenya.

Within ten minutes of landing in the coconut palms in the neighbouring island of Quirimba, I was whizzing over jewel-like waters in a speedboat. Half an hour later, fresh mango juice in hand, I was on the verandah of my thatched beachside cottage, bikini and sunglasses on, wondering what to do next.

As a watersports lover, the decisions aren’t easy: only because on Mozambique’s islands there is so much to do. The reefs, for a start, are spectacularly unspoilt; a master diver who accompanied me 20m down to see giant moray eels, said that divers to locations like Two Mile Reef might see in one day what most expect elsewhere to see in a week – from enormous whale sharks to rare multicoloured nudibrancs.

For keen anglers, the waters are teeming: enormous marlin from September to December, sailfish (particularly in July and August), king and queenfish and dorado. Then there are often catamarans, windsurfing boards, surf-kites, kayaks and waterskis to use from the beachfronts. From Quilalea, a boat trip visits the ancient ruined island of Ibo, with its tumbling cathedral and desolate colonial streets. There are fins to strap on for swims out to sea. Or snorkels to borrow to try to spot the elusive dugong.

The cuisine is mostly seafood-based. As well as the best lobster I’ve ever eaten, I sampled monster prawns barbecued on the beach and crab stuffed and served with Thai sweet sauce. All was super-fresh, although the quality varied from top notch at Benguerra Lodge and Dugong Beach Lodge, to variable at Quilalea and dull at Marlin Lodge. Each hotel, too, had its own charms.

Quilalea, with its nine double villas, is ideal for couples. Marlin, with 21 air-conditioned suites and chalets, is suited to families. Dugong and Benguerra Lodge, with their chic settings and sophisticated food, are for couples who like exclusive resorts with taste.

Mozambique is still suffering from the destruction of its civil war, and phones, roads, transfers and plumbing might not work all the time. But having discovered a winter/spring destination from which I won’t suffer from jetlag, where the mangoes are ripe, seafood fresh, the wine fine South African, the people welcoming, and the snorkelling as good as the Barrier Reef, who’s complaining? I’ve already made my plans for next year.

NEED TO KNOW

A week with flights via Johannesburg and connections to Vilanculos, based on two sharing, costs from £2,075 per person in a luxury chalet at Marlin, £2,175 pp at Dugong and £2,575pp at Benguerra. A week at Quilalea, via Dar es Salaam, costs from £1,845 pp. Prices include flights, taxes, transfers, meals and non-motorised sports. Call Aardvark Safaris (www.aardvarksafaris.com)

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