Zanzibar Archipelago

Overview

Zanzibar is Africa's most romantic island destination — a spice-scented archipelago of coral islands in the Indian Ocean 35km off Tanzania's coast, where Arab, Persian, Indian, Portuguese and Swahili cultures have fused over millennia to create one of the world's most distinctive and captivating places. The main island, Unguja (Zanzibar Island), combines the labyrinthine lanes of UNESCO-listed Stone Town with some of the Indian Ocean's most beautiful beaches, making it the ideal finale to any East African safari. Stone Town, Zanzibar's historic capital, is one of Africa's most extraordinary urban environments — a UNESCO World Heritage City of winding stone alleys, carved wooden doors, coral-built merchant houses and minarets that reveal the island's extraordinary history as the East African hub of the Arab spice and slave trade. The Omani Arab sultans who ruled Zanzibar from the 17th to 19th centuries built a city of wealth and sophistication whose architectural legacy survives largely intact as a living, breathing urban heritage zone. Zanzibar's beaches are among the Indian Ocean's finest. The northern beaches (Nungwi, Kendwa) offer calm turquoise water year-round with vibrant beach bar culture, while the eastern beaches (Paje, Jambiani, Matemwe) face the open ocean with dramatic tidal changes and excellent kitesurfing conditions. The southern tip hosts the extraordinary Menai Bay conservation area. Beneath the surface, Zanzibar's fringing reefs support outstanding snorkelling and scuba diving, with coral gardens, sea turtles, manta rays and dolphin pods all accessible from shore. For most travellers completing a Uganda or Tanzania safari, Zanzibar is the perfect beach recovery — turquoise water, fresh seafood, Swahili culture and winter sunshine combining to create one of East Africa's most rewarding travel experiences.