13 December 2017
Zanzibar’s cultural diversity, beautiful nature and friendly people make this tropical island the perfect getaway. Our favourite place to stay in Zanzibar is Jambiani. And if you love beautiful beaches, exciting activities, nice restaurants with delicious food and authenticity, it will be yours, too.
Jambiani is an old fishing village on the southeast coast of Zanzibar. It’s still really authentic, with only a few small lodges and guest houses, a laid-back vibe and friendly locals who mix with tourists. Their main source of income is fishing and seaweed farming. Here, you can get a good insight into the local way of life and the best thing: everything is in walking distance.
Pick one of the several good restaurants at the beach, enjoy seafood or other local delicacies, and take a little stroll in the sand afterwards. Yes, Jambiani is just that beautiful!
Let’s stay at the beach! The 7 kilometre long beach with powdery white sand and swaying palms has hardly any rocks or sea-urchins – contrary to some beaches in the north. The barrier reef lies a few kilometres out, with a beautiful crystal turquoise lagoon in between. This is the perfect place for wading, snorkelling, and diving, and it offers an excellent view of the marine life. Thanks to its steady side shore winds, Jambiani is also an ideal spot for wind or kitesurfing. At high tide it’s nice to swim in the Indian Ocean and at low tide you can enjoy a nice beach walk.
Discovering the many charming restaurants in Jambiani is an activity in itself. You’ll find most of them as part of lodges located at the beach. Enjoy freshly caught seafood, pizza, meat or vegetable dishes and so many more delicious meals. If you love seafood, go to Casa Del Mar to order lobster and Cigal (tasteful Zanzibari lobster) – trust us, you’ll be in culinary heaven! Other good restaurants we can recommend are Nur Beach, Blue Reef and The Loop. The Blue Reef has a wood-fired pizza oven and serves the best pizza in Zanzibar and also great cocktails.
Since there are so many good restaurants in Jambiani, we advise you to book only bed and breakfast at your lodge and not full board.
We’ve already mentioned our favourite lodges in Jambiani (which all serve delicious food à la carte, btw). And since we love them so much, we’ll tell you a little more about them.
This simple but charming lodge is located just at the beach of Jambiani and welcomes you with clean rooms and comfy beds. With only 40 US-Dollars per person/per night (with breakfast), this lodge is extremely budget-friendly. It doesn’t have a pool, but an entire Ocean is just a few steps away 😉 The lodge consists of two parts that are just 200 metres apart. Blue Reef 1 has a nice bar and restaurant (daily happy hour from 5 to 7 pm) and 2 family rooms with ocean view. All rooms at Blue Reef 2 have sea view and their own veranda. This part is a bit quieter and has a lovely Italian restaurant… remember the wood-fired pizza?
If you prefer a bit more luxury and a modern ‘beach-style’ design including a beautiful swimming pool, The Loop is for you. Every house has its own veranda with a hammock and sea view and the price per person/per night is about 50 to 60 US-Dollars.
The level of luxury of Nur Beach Hotel is similar to The Loop, however, this lodge enchants with an authentic Zanzibari design and thatched-roof houses. Although the rooms are a bit smaller (but large enough for two people), the veranda with cosy seating possibilities is a bit more spacious. Another highlight: the gorgeous infinity pool with great sea views.
All lodges have their own restaurant where everyone is welcome for a drink or nice meal. To entertain the travellers, they organise live music, happy hours or barbecues at a different lodge every day.
Daily: Happy hour at Blue Reef (5 to 7 pm) – enjoy the perfect mix of music, sunset, and cocktails
Wednesday: Barbecue and disco at New Teddy’s on the Beach (Paje)
Thursday: Barbecue and live music at Demani Lodge, Bar & Restaurant (Paje)
Friday: Live music at Jambo Jambiani Beach Villa
Saturday: Live music at Before
Sunday: Live music at Vuvuzela and Red Monkey Lodge
Deep Sea Fishing
We can arrange a half or full day deep sea fishing tour. With a huge variety of fish, such as tuna, marlin, sailfish, barracuda and dorado, the Indian Ocean is famous for excellent game fishing. Sail out to the deep waters to catch some spectacular big fish that can easily weight up to 60 kg.
Scuba diving
The beautiful coral reefs host some of Africa’s finest corals. There are several diving spots and the variety of marine life is impressive. We work together with the diving school Nakupenda, located at The Loop, so that you can meet seahorses, octopuses, stingrays, frogfish, Napoleon fish and turtles in their home.
Biking tour
If you want to burn some calories and love adventures, go on a biking tour to explore the village and surroundings of Jambiani. This is a great way to get an insight in the daily way of life and beautiful nature. There are also beach bikes available if you prefer a tour on the beach.
Kitesurfing
Due to its steady side shore winds, Jambiani is an ideal spot for wind or kitesurfing. The beaches are quiet, and the waters are shallow with little sea-urchins.
Boat trip on a dhow (traditional wooden sailboat)
Set sail on the beautiful Indian Ocean and spend some time at the coral reefs, snorkelling. Say hi from us to starfish, sea urchins, octopuses, and their buddies.
Walk on the pristine beaches
Low tide is the perfect time to go for a beautiful beach walk, enjoy the fantastic view of the clear ocean and a little daydreaming.
Visit local village
Discover local life by visiting a school, tailor or boat builder. You can also see how locals make soap or cream out of seaweed or all the products they create out of coconuts.
Snorkelling at Blue Lagoon
Start the day by driving to Dongwe (15 minutes), where the Blue Lagoon is located. This is one of the best snorkelling spots in Zanzibar due to its beautiful coral and tropical fish. The visibility is good and the depth range, between 1 and 4 metres, is perfect for snorkelling. Treat yourself afterwards to nice food and drinks at The Rock. This restaurant is built on a rock in the ocean. An awesome place to enjoy the views. End the day at Kae Funk in Michamvi where you can experience the most beautiful sunset in Zanzibar.
The distance is 55 km, and it will take you just about 1.5 hours to get there (absolutely worth it!).
You want to know more about Zanzibar? Then click here or message us, should you want to go there right now – we’d understand.
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