Zanzibar

Size Unguja, the main island, plus Pemba to the north

Best time June to October, and December to February

Getting there 1 hr flight from Arusha, or direct from the Serengeti airstrips

Location Indian Ocean, off the Tanzanian coast

Zanzibar is a short flight from the safari, which is the whole argument for it: you can be watching lion at seven in the morning and swimming before sunset. We book the flight with the trip so there is no backtracking to Arusha and no separate arrangement to worry about.

Where you stay matters more here than anywhere else in Tanzania, because the tides differ enormously around the island. The east coast has the reef and the snorkelling but goes a long way out at low water. The north around Nungwi and Kendwa is swimmable at any state of the tide. We will ask which of those you actually care about before recommending anything.

Give Stone Town at least one night. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a genuinely working city — not a preserved one — and the history in it, including the honest and uncomfortable parts, is worth a guided morning on foot.

Where it is

How to get there

By air — about an hour from Arusha, and there are direct flights from the Serengeti airstrips so you never backtrack.
By sea — the ferry from Dar es Salaam takes around two hours, which suits people already on the coast.

Best time to visit June to October, and December to February

See all destinations

What to see

Attractions

01

Stone Town

A working port city and a UNESCO World Heritage site — carved doors, spice markets, and Swahili, Omani, Indian and European history layered on top of each other, including the parts that are hard to look at.

02

The north coast

Nungwi and Kendwa, where the tide barely moves and you can swim at any hour. The busiest part of the island, and the easiest.

03

The east coast

Paje, Jambiani, Matemwe. The reef is offshore and the snorkelling is better, but the water goes a long way out at low tide. Kite surfing is centred on Paje.

04

Jozani Forest

The last stand of the Zanzibar red colobus, a monkey found on this island and nowhere else. An hour and a half, and the only real wildlife on Unguja.

What to do

Activities

Stone Town walking tour

A morning on foot with a Zanzibari guide — the old dispensary, the market, the former slave market and the cathedral built on it.

Spice farm tour

Clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla growing rather than in a jar. Touristy, and genuinely interesting anyway.

Snorkelling and diving

Mnemba atoll off the north-east, or the reef straight off the east coast. Green turtles, and reef fish in quantity.

Dhow sunset sail

A traditional dhow out of Stone Town or Nungwi as the light goes. The single best hour on the island for the money.

Itineraries

Trips that include Zanzibar

Most requested

10 days Private departure

Plains and Then the Sea — Northern Circuit & Zanzibar

Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Zanzibar

Cost On request

View

For two

12 days Private departure

Honeymoon — Private Safari and the Indian Ocean