Maroantsetra

Maroantsetra stands at the northern end of Antongil Bay, where the Antainambalana River reaches the sea. The great bay opens into the Indian Ocean, sheltered on its eastern side by the Masoala peninsula. Inland, a well-watered plain and river valleys offered ground for rice cultivation, while the bay provided a haven for ships. The island of Nosy Mangabe lies within its northern waters.

By the eighteenth century Antongil Bay was known to pirates and merchants sailing the Indian Ocean. On the mainland the Zafirabay established influence in the fertile valleys near the head of the bay. In the 1770s the adventurer Maurice Benyowsky attempted to establish a French settlement called Louisbourg near the Antainambalana, drawing this coast into another short-lived overseas venture.