The national park sits at the southern tip of Lake Malawi. This area is incredibly beautiful with deep fresh water, sandy beaches, rugged granite islands and a superb mountain backdrop of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment. They are many endemic species, including hundreds of cichlid fish, known locally as 'mbuna'. Lake Malawi is globally important for biodiversity conservation due to its outstanding diversity of its fresh water fishes, along with a great variety of other flora and fauna. Mammals include bushbuck, klipspringer, monkeys and baboons. There are also hippo and crocodile in some areas of the park. The lake itself is one of the deepest in the world, at 700m, and sits 500m above sea level. The park includes Cape McClear at its furthest reaches, and Nankumbu Peninsular.
Lake Malawi is a Great Rift Valley Lake and the ninth largest in the world measuring approximately 365 miles by 52 miles. The lake was discovered by David Livingstone 150 years ago. fishing villages and local communities can be found scattered along the lake shore with the southern portion a national park. Likoma Island is a popular holiday spot and actually lies in Mozambique's waters.