Nkhata Bay is the most appealing town on the northern half of Lake Malawi — a string of guesthouses and bars draped over a series of forested coves on the lake's western shore. The setting does most of the work: deep clear water meets steep bush-covered hills, dugout canoes pull in at first light with the night's catch, and the lake stretches uninterrupted to the horizon. It has been backpacker country for decades and shows it, in the friendliest possible way.
The town itself is small and walkable. The market and the main road clatter with minibuses, fish traders, and the slow business of a working port; the cove-side guesthouses, a kilometre or two to the north and south, are quiet enough to hear the lake. The water here is some of the clearest on Lake Malawi, with visibility of 15 metres or more on calm days. That, plus the sheer drop-offs just off the rocky points, makes Nkhata Bay one of the best freshwater diving destinations in Africa — easier and cheaper than most ocean equivalents, and full of the lake's endemic cichlids.
Beyond the diving and the swimming, the rhythm of the place is its own attraction. Watch the Ilala ferry come in — a weekly event with its own ceremony of disembarking traders, vendors, and travellers. Walk through the fish market in the early morning, when chambo and usipa from the previous night's catch are sold straight off the boats. Or just stay where you are: most travellers planning two nights here end up staying five or six.
Nkhata Bay is best reached from Mzuzu, an hour inland by minibus on a tarmacked road. South along the lakeshore is Chintheche, with its longer white-sand beaches; north is the dramatic escarpment up to Livingstonia. The lake is bilharzia-positive in places, so ask locally before swimming off any particular beach.