Which coast should we choose?

It changes the holiday more than the hotel does. The north (Nungwi, Kendwa) has deep water at every tide and the liveliest scene. The east (Paje, Jambiani) has a dramatic tidal range — beautiful, but at low tide you walk a long way to swim — and is where the kitesurfers go. The south-east is the quietest.

Is Stone Town worth a night?

Yes, and preferably two, at the start rather than the end. It is an interesting place with a complicated history, and it is hard to appreciate after five days of doing nothing on a beach.

When should we avoid Zanzibar?

April, firmly. The long rains are heaviest then, visibility for diving collapses and a good number of properties close. If April is your only window we would suggest the mainland instead.

Do we need a separate visa?

No — Zanzibar is part of Tanzania. You do pass through an immigration desk flying between the mainland and the island, so keep your passport accessible. Zanzibar separately requires arriving visitors to hold travel insurance.

Good, and Mnemba atoll is the best of it — clear water, healthy reef and regular turtle sightings. Pemba is better again for experienced divers. Whale sharks appear off Mafia in season.

Zanzibar — safaris, wildlife and when to go

Zanzibar is the natural second half of a Tanzanian holiday, and after a week of early starts and long drives it is exactly what people need. The island has two quite separate personalities.

Stone Town is the old Omani and Swahili trading port — a warren of coral-rag alleys, carved doors, spice merchants and a genuinely complicated history that includes the East African slave trade. It deserves a night and a good guide, not a rushed afternoon.

The beaches are the other half. Nungwi and Kendwa in the north have deep water at all tides and the liveliest scene. The east coast — Paje, Jambiani, Michamvi — has a dramatic tidal range that exposes hundreds of metres of sand flats twice a day, and is where the kitesurfers go. The south-east is the quietest.

Which coast you choose matters more than which hotel. We will ask what you want a beach day to look like before we recommend one.

From our guides

Pick the coast before the hotel. A guest who wants to swim at any hour will be disappointed by a beautiful east-coast hotel at low tide.

Why come here

Stone Town — a UNESCO World Heritage Site with real depth
Excellent diving and snorkelling, particularly Mnemba atoll
Short flight from the safari circuits
Good food, from street grills to serious kitchens

The wildlife

Marine rather than terrestrial: reef fish, turtles, dolphins off the south coast, and whale sharks off Mafia in season. Jozani Forest holds the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey, found nowhere else on earth.

When to visit

June to October and December to February are the reliable dry windows. The long rains in April and May are heavy and many places close. Note that the east coast has a large tidal range — at low tide you may walk a long way to swim.

Zanzibar through the year

January

Weather

Hot and humid, 25–33°C

Wildlife

Excellent diving; good visibility

The migration

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How busy

Busy

Price season

Peak season

Our rating

Safaris visiting Zanzibar

See all

Safari + Zanzibar

10 Days Luxury Safari & Zanzibar

Arusha › 2 nights Central Serengeti › Ngorongoro › 5 nights Zanzibar

From US$2,758 per person

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Great Migration
Safari + Zanzibar

16 Days Migration Safari & Zanzibar

Arusha › 2 nights Tarangire › 2 nights Ndutu › 4 nights Serengeti › Ngorongoro › 5 nights Zanzibar

From US$10,429 per person

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Safari + Zanzibar

11 Days Luxury Honeymoon — Safari & Zanzibar

Arusha › 2 nights Tarangire › 3 nights Serengeti › Ngorongoro › 3 nights Zanzibar

From US$6,048 per person

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Beach holiday
Family-friendly

7 Days Zanzibar Beach Holiday

Stone Town · North-east coast

From US$1,256 per person

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Where to stay

Camps and lodges we use here

Melia Zanzibar

ZanzibarBeach resortLuxury

A large resort on the north-east coast at Kiwengwa, with deep gardens running down to the beach.

RatesOn request View lodge

Hotel Riu Palace Zanzibar

ZanzibarBeach resortLuxury

An all-inclusive beachfront resort on the north-east coast, straightforward and easy after a week on safari.

RatesOn request View lodge

The Z Hotel Zanzibar

ZanzibarHotelLuxury

A small hotel right on the sand at Nungwi, where the water is deep enough to swim at any tide.

RatesOn request View lodge

Emerson on Hurumzi

ZanzibarHotelLuxury

A restored merchant house in the middle of Stone Town, with a rooftop that is worth the stay on its own.

RatesOn request View lodge

Matemwe Lodge

ZanzibarBeach resortLuxury

A small lodge on the north-east coast looking across to Mnemba atoll — the best base for diving there.

RatesOn request View lodge

Things to do

Experiences here

Diving and snorkelling

Reef, turtles and the atoll off Zanzibar’s north-east coast.

Zanzibar in pictures

Zanzibar

From our guides

Why come here

The wildlife

When to visit