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Where to stay in Zanzibar is really a choice between five quite different coasts on one island, and it decides more of your holiday than the hotel does. The deciding factor is the tide: on the east and south-east, the sea walks out across the reef flat for hours each day, while the west-facing north holds water close to the sand for much longer. Everything else — atmosphere, transfer time, who you will share the beach with — follows from that one fact.
Key facts
| Coast | Swimming | Tide | Atmosphere | Transfer from airport | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North (Nungwi, Kendwa) | Most of the day | Smallest effect; some water lost at spring lows | Liveliest (Nungwi), calmer (Kendwa) | Nungwi ~75–80 min; Kendwa ~70 min | Swimmers, sunsets |
| North-east (Matemwe to Uroa) | Mid-to-high tide | Lagoon drains at low water | Quiet (Matemwe) to resort-led (Kiwengwa) | Matemwe about 1 h; Kiwengwa about 1 h (sources vary); Uroa about 40–50 min | Long beaches, Mnemba snorkelling, families with a pool |
| South-east (Paje to Michamvi) | Mid-to-high tide | Strongest; widest lagoon | Sociable (Paje), village (Jambiani), quiet (Bwejuu, Michamvi) | ~60–75 min | Kitesurfing (roughly Jun–Oct and Dec–Mar), village life |
| South-west (Kizimkazi) | Tidal, small beaches | Marked | Very quiet | ~75 min | Seclusion, Menai Bay |
| Stone Town | No swimming beach | — | Historic, busy | ~15 min | 1–2 nights at the start |
Transfer times are approximate and vary with traffic.
The detail
The north — Nungwi and Kendwa. The island narrows to a point here, and the beaches face west and north-west into deeper water with no wide lagoon in front of them. The practical result is swimming at most states of the tide: the water drops back less here than on the east coast, as Zanzibar tides explained sets out. Nungwi is a working dhow-building village with the island's densest run of hotels, restaurants and bars along the beach; Kendwa, a few minutes south, is smaller, slower and faces the sunset squarely. Expect the busiest beaches on the island in high season. Transfer from the airport is roughly 75 to 80 minutes to Nungwi and about 70 to Kendwa, though times vary with traffic. For the hotels themselves, see best hotels in Nungwi and best hotels in Kendwa. The two villages are compared properly in our Nungwi or Kendwa guide.
The north-east — Matemwe, Pwani Mchangani, Kiwengwa, Pongwe and Uroa. A long, almost continuous strip of pale sand behind an offshore reef, with Mnemba Atoll's snorkelling a short boat ride from the top end. Matemwe is the quietest, and one of the most characterful, a fishing and seaweed-farming village with small lodges set apart from each other. Pwani Mchangani and Kiwengwa carry most of the island's larger all-inclusive resorts; Pongwe is a small sheltered cove with a handful of boutique hotels, and Uroa sits where the coast begins to curve into Chwaka Bay. The tide here is real — at low water you walk out across seagrass and sand flats, and swimming is a mid-to-high-tide activity — which is exactly why so many resorts here have large pools. For the hotels, see best hotels in Matemwe and best hotels in Kiwengwa.
The south-east — Paje, Jambiani, Bwejuu and Michamvi. The widest lagoon on the island and the strongest tidal character, which is both the drawback and the point. Paje is the island's kitesurfing centre, young and sociable, with the wind in two seasons (roughly June to October and December to March). Jambiani is a long village with guesthouses and small hotels threaded between the houses, and the island's best place to understand how people actually live beside this sea. Bwejuu is quieter still, and Michamvi, at the tip of the peninsula, has a handful of small, polished hotels and, on its western side at Kae, a sunset over Chwaka Bay. Transfers are about 60–75 minutes. For the hotels, see best hotels in Paje, best hotels in Jambiani and best hotels in Michamvi. See Paje or Jambiani and Bwejuu and Michamvi for the finer decisions.
The south-west — Kizimkazi. Two fishing villages on the island's quiet southern corner, known for dolphins in Menai Bay and a mosque with a 1107 inscription, largely rebuilt in the 18th century. The coast is rockier and the beaches smaller and more tidal than the headline shores; you come to Kizimkazi for seclusion and the sea rather than for a long walk on sand, and you leave the dolphin boats to operators who follow the conservation-area rules.
Stone Town. Not a beach stay — the waterfront is a working harbour — but the island's heart, and the right place for your first night or two: carved doors, the night market at Forodhani, rooftop dinners, the slave-market memorial. One night is enough for a taste; two lets you walk without a watch. Stone Town is about 15 minutes from the airport, which makes it the natural landing point before the longer drive to a coast. For places to sleep there, see best hotels in Stone Town.
The islands — Mnemba and Pemba. Mnemba Island is a single private lodge on a sand island off Matemwe, with the atoll's reef on its doorstep and a price to match; it is the island at its most exclusive, not a resort choice. Pemba, a short flight north, is green, hilly, deeply tidal and almost untouristed, with a handful of lodges and reef diving that draws divers on its own account. Our Pemba or Zanzibar guide weighs it against the main island, and best hotels in Pemba covers where to stay there.
Village coasts, months and money. Jambiani, Matemwe and Kizimkazi are living villages rather than resort strips: cover shoulders and knees once you step off the beach, and ask before photographing people. The dry seasons, June to October and December to February, are busy, especially on the north and south-east coasts, while many hotels close for part of April and May. Check the best time to visit Zanzibar before settling on a coast. Cash is easier than it used to be: ATMs exist in Paje and Nungwi as well as Stone Town and the airport, so carry some cash for the smaller villages.
Planning it with Nobu
We do not assign you a coast. We ask how you like to swim, how much village you want outside the gate, and whether this is your whole holiday or the exhale after a safari, and then we recommend a coast. A simple shape is a night or two in Stone Town and then one coast rather than two, because moving hotels on an island this size costs you a beach day each time. For trip length, see How many days in Zanzibar?. See how it comes together in Shores of Zanzibar.
Is it right for you?
Swimming for most of the day is non-negotiable → the north. You want a long, empty beach and the reef, and you are happy to plan swims around the tide → Matemwe or the north-east. You kitesurf, or want to be near people who do → Paje. You want village life and a guesthouse with character → Jambiani. You want polish and quiet at the end of a long safari → Michamvi or a small lodge in Matemwe. You want to disappear → Pemba. You are travelling with young children and a pool matters as much as the sea → the north-east resorts, or the north. Not for you if: you want late nights and bars — skip Matemwe and Bwejuu; you want to swim whenever you like — skip the south-east. Not sure → tell us how you spend a beach day and we will tell you where.
Journeys to consider
- Shores of Zanzibar — Stone Town, then one well-chosen coast; the short island stay. See the Shores of Zanzibar journey
- Southern Safari & Spice — Nyerere's rivers, then the island. See the Southern Safari & Spice journey
- The Great Migration Circuit — the Serengeti, with Zanzibar as the natural close. See the Great Migration Circuit journey