Boulevard Joffre is Toamasina's main promenade, running south from the port along the oceanfront for about two kilometres. It is lined with royal palms and the faded facades of colonial-era buildings — a few still functioning as hotels and government offices, others slowly returning to the tropical vegetation. The effect, especially in the late afternoon light, has a melancholy elegance: Indochine by way of the Indian Ocean.
The boulevard is at its best at dusk, when residents come out to walk, and vendors set up carts selling sugarcane juice and fried snacks. The seawall runs alongside the full length of the road, and at several points you can climb it to look directly out over the ocean. The swimming beach, such as it is, begins where the boulevard curves around the southern headland. The water here can be rough, particularly between October and April when the trade winds are strong.