Zanzibar, Tanzania

Stone Town's Swahili alleys and white sand beaches. Pairs perfectly with a Serengeti safari.

beachculturespicesislanddiving

Best time to visit

Month	High	Low	Rain	Season
Jan	31°	26°	49 mm	prime
Feb	31°	26°	40 mm	prime
Mar	31°	26°	122 mm
Apr	29°	25°	246 mm
May	28°	25°	148 mm
Jun	28°	24°	44 mm	prime
Jul	27°	23°	30 mm	prime
Aug	28°	23°	28 mm	prime
Sep	29°	23°	27 mm	prime
Oct	29°	24°	63 mm	prime
Nov	30°	25°	94 mm
Dec	30°	26°	92 mm	prime

30-year averages (1995–2024) from ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo. Rain is the monthly total.

Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $120 a day on the ground.

Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.

Cash still runs most of the island. Dollars circulate alongside shillings. Cash machines exist in Stone Town and are scarce on the beaches.
money · editorial
This is a conservative Muslim island: cover shoulders and knees away from the beach, and always in Stone Town. On the east coast the tide withdraws hundreds of metres and swimming only works on part of the cycle.
know before · editorial
The long rains through the southern autumn close many east coast places outright. The short rains later in the year are patchy and far less disruptive.
when not to go · editorial
Stone Town for the architecture, the alleys and the night food market. Nungwi and Kendwa in the north for beach that stays swimmable at all tides. Paje and Jambiani in the east for kitesurfing and a tide that goes a long way out. Matemwe and Pongwe for quiet.
where to stay · editorial
Taxis and minibuses, or a driver hired for the day, which is how most people cross the island. Stone Town is walkable and impossible to drive.
getting around · editorial
Fly into Zanzibar, usually connecting through Dar es Salaam, Nairobi or Addis. The ferry from Dar es Salaam takes about two hours. From the airport to the northern beaches is an hour or more on one slow road.
getting there · editorial

House of Wonders
The cast-iron palace on the Stone Town seafront.
Forodhani Gardens
The seafront garden where the whole town goes in the late afternoon.
Darajani market
The central market of Stone Town. Fish, spice and noise.
Nungwi beach
The northern tip, the one beach on the island where the tide does not take the sea away.
Kendwa Beach
Next door to Nungwi, wider and calmer.
Jozani Forest
The only place in the world with the Zanzibar red colobus.
Prison Island
The island of giant tortoises, half an hour by boat from Stone Town.
Paje Beach
East coast, constant wind, a tide that travels a kilometre.

Eat urojo, the yellow soup of Zanzibar
Eat urojo, the yellow soup of Zanzibar
Potato, bhajia, lime and chilli. Street food, served hot.
Eat mishkaki on an evening in Stone Town
Skewers over coals, eaten standing up.

Watch the dhows leaving at dawn in Nungwi
Watch a dhow cross in front of the setting sun
Triangular sail, no engine. It happens most afternoons.

Dive Mnemba on a boat from the north-east coast
Protected reef, clear water, weak current.

Spend a morning on a spice plantation
Clove, cinnamon and nutmeg still on the tree.