The beach takes care of itself. What most visitors regret is not seeing more of the island — the reefs of Mnemba, the lanes of Stone Town, the monkeys of Jozani. These are the ten places we would build a Nungwi stay around, each with its own guide covering what to do, how to get there and which tours cover it.
Things to Do in & Around Nungwi
Ten places that turn a beach holiday into a proper Zanzibar trip.
Nungwi & Kendwa
Nungwi & Kendwa Nungwi Beach
Sunsets at the top of Zanzibar
The white-sand beach that wraps around Ras Nungwi, the northern tip of Unguja. The west side is lined with bars, dive shops and dhow moorings and faces straight into the sunset; the east side is quieter, and the lighthouse point in between is where the village began.
Nungwi & Kendwa Kendwa Beach
The calm, swimmable beach next door
Three kilometres south of Nungwi, Kendwa is a long, wide sweep of soft sand with some of the gentlest tidal range on the island — you can swim here at almost any time of day. Quieter than Nungwi, except on full-moon party nights.
Nungwi & Kendwa Mnarani Turtle Aquarium
A village-run turtle sanctuary by the lighthouse
A natural tidal pool in the coral rock at Ras Nungwi where the community cares for sea turtles accidentally caught by local fishermen, and releases them back into the ocean. Small, simple and genuinely conservation-minded; the entry fee supports the village.
Nungwi & Kendwa Nungwi Dhow Yard
Boats still built by hand on the beach
Nungwi has built wooden boats for generations, and on the beach below the village you can still watch dhows taking shape — hulls of hardwood planks shaped with hand tools and sealed with cotton and fish oil. Nobody sells tickets: just ask before you take photographs.
Reefs & islands
Reefs & islands Mnemba Atoll
Zanzibar’s best snorkelling and dolphins
A ring of coral reef off the north-east coast around the tiny private island of Mnemba. The protected reef has the clearest water and richest marine life around Zanzibar, and pods of dolphins are often seen on the way out. Boats from Nungwi take around an hour.
Reefs & islands Tumbatu Island
Quiet reefs just off the west coast
Zanzibar’s third-largest island sits a short boat ride west of Kendwa. Its surrounding reefs are one of the favourite dive and snorkel areas for Nungwi’s dive centres, with turtles, reef fish and far fewer boats than Mnemba.
Stone Town & inland Zanzibar
Stone Town & inland Zanzibar Stone Town
Zanzibar’s UNESCO-listed old town
The historic heart of Zanzibar City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000: a maze of coral-stone houses, carved doors, mosques, bazaars and seafront palaces built by Swahili, Omani, Indian and European traders. About an hour and a half by road from Nungwi.
Stone Town & inland Zanzibar Prison Island (Changuu)
Giant tortoises off Stone Town
A small island about 30 minutes by boat from Stone Town, with a prison built in the 1890s that was never used as one and a colony of giant Aldabra tortoises, some of them more than a century old. Good snorkelling and a beach add to a half-day trip.
Stone Town & inland Zanzibar Jozani Forest
Red colobus monkeys and mangroves
Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, Zanzibar’s only national park, protects the island’s last large patch of ground-water forest and the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey. Guided walks take you among the monkeys and along a boardwalk through the mangroves.
Stone Town & inland Zanzibar Zanzibar Spice Farms
Why they call it the Spice Island
Cloves made Zanzibar rich in the 19th century, and the farms in the hills north of Stone Town still grow them alongside nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, black pepper and lemongrass. A guided spice tour is a sensory hour of tasting, smelling and guessing — and ends with a fruit tasting.
A sensible week: Day one, arrive and watch the sunset. Day two, Mnemba in the morning. Day three, the turtle pond, the dhow yard and a lazy afternoon in Kendwa. Day four, Stone Town, a spice farm and Prison Island. Then the beach, a dive at Tumbatu and a sunset dhow before you fly home.
Plan your days at the tip of Zanzibar
Turn beach days in Nungwi into the trip of a lifetime
Snorkel Mnemba Atoll, sail a dhow into the sunset, swim with turtles and walk the lanes of Stone Town. Compare the best-rated experiences and book in a couple of taps.