Zanzibar

A different kind of chapter to close a Tanzania trip on — coral sand, a nine-hundred-year trading history, and a coastline with several genuinely distinct personalities of its own.

Zanzibar is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, roughly 25 to 50 kilometres off Tanzania's coast, made up of the main island of Unguja — what most people mean when they say 'Zanzibar' — and the smaller, quieter Pemba Island further north. Unlike every destination covered so far in this guide series, Zanzibar isn't a wildlife park at all: its draw is coral sand and warm, clear water, a genuinely layered nine-hundred-year trading history centred on Stone Town, and a coastline with distinct personalities depending on which side of the island a guest chooses.

This guide departs from the standard structure used elsewhere in this series for exactly that reason. There's no 'Wildlife of Zanzibar' chapter in the sense our national park guides use the phrase — instead, Part 4 covers the island's marine life and its one genuine wildlife specialty, the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey, and Part 5 gives Stone Town's history, including its difficult chapters, the space it deserves rather than folding it into a passing mention.

For nearly every Emnel guest, Zanzibar is the closing stop on a longer Tanzania itinerary rather than a standalone destination — a deliberate, well-earned few days of rest after a safari, not a separate trip in its own right. That framing shapes almost everything in this guide, including our honest advice on how much time to give it.

Zanzibar's honest case for inclusion on a Tanzania itinerary is contrast, not competition — nothing here tries to compete with the wildlife destinations covered elsewhere in this series, and it shouldn't. What it offers instead is a genuinely different register to close a trip on: warm, clear water, several distinct coastal personalities within a single island, and a history in Stone Town substantial enough to reward a guest who wants more than a beach chair.

It's worth being direct about the trade-offs too. Zanzibar's east coast beaches are tidal, meaning the sea recedes dramatically at low tide and swimming windows are genuinely limited by the clock, not just personal preference. The island draws roughly half a million visitors a year, concentrated on a relatively small stretch of coastline, and its reefs face real pressure from coral bleaching, pollution and coastal development, covered honestly in Part 11 rather than left out of a brochure-friendly picture.