Chumbe Island | Holiday Islands off Africa with Tanzania Odyssey

Our View

Chumbe Island is Zanzibar’s first marine sanctuary and remains a unique destination for very keen snorkellers. It is an education over load of marine life and being home to 90% of East Africa’s coral species really gives it a different angle to your typical beach experience. Getting there can be a bit of a mission, with the boat transfers going at set times so it sometimes doesn’t really favour tight flight connections. But it is a lovely eco lodge for a certain type of person and being 100% run by locals it is a pure African beach experience.

How to get to Chumbe Island

The lodge is located on Chumbe Island itself, 13 km to the south west of Stone Town. Stone town is a 20 minute flight from Dar es Salaam. Being so close to Stone Town, however, does affect the whole remote feel of the lodge. Once in Stone Town hop on a boat and you are there.

Chumbe Island Hotel - The Facts

The main lodge is built in an abstract design, with an enormous makuti roof structure that hangs down on all four sides for sides of the cross shaped roof. Chumbe prides itself on being beyond eco-friendly, sometimes referred to as Chumbe eco-resort, although it bears no resemblance to a resort at all.

Chumbe has one smaller bungalow and six double storey bungalows. The ground floor is the bathroom and living area and the top floor is the bedrooms. The bathroom is extremely eco with long drop toilets, not for those looking for luxury. The water is all solar heated and is rain water which gets passed through a local filtering system and pumped up.

Chumbe Island Hotel - Activities

Snorkelling is what makes Chumbe stand out from the rest. Although the majority of the island doesn’t have good beaches, Chumbe is blessed with a good stretch of lovely white sand. There is no diving or fishing here, but you can arrange all dolphin trips and other activities from the lodge. Chumbe can be a great addition to the more adventurous honeymooners