Holiday at a luxury hotel in Zanzibar with Small Luxury Hotels of the World and watch traditional sailing dhows glide by at sunset from your beachfront pool. Exotic scents of vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon pervade the air during a spice garden tour.
Luxury Zanzibar beaches
Banana trees, mangroves and coconut palms line the road to Nungwi on the northern tip of the island, where craftsmen build wooden dhows by the water’s edge. Dip your toes in the cool freshwater pool that lies hidden in a natural coral cave close to white sand Mangapwani Beach. Giant tortoises roam nearby Changuu (Prison) Island, once a quarantine station for East Africa and now a popular daytrip destination with a rustic restaurant and an intimate beach.
Luxury things to do in Zanzibar
Haunting calls to prayer emanate from mosques in ancient Stone Town, where noisy bazaars and whitewashed houses are tightly packed along narrow cobbled alleyways. Enjoy a guided underwater dive through colourful coral reefs and shoals of tropical fish in the Misali Island Marine Conservation Area. Nature trails winding through Ngezi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island reveal glimpses of vervet monkeys, rare flying foxes and Scops owls.
Gourmet Zanzibar
Stone Town’s tiny side-street restaurants offer mouthwatering spicy dishes like biriyani and fluffy pilau rice. Enjoy sizzling seafood barbecues of octopus, squid and snapper barefoot on the beach. A butler serves succulent beef curry and cocktails made from freshly squeezed fruit juices beneath the stars on the terrace of your boutique hotel room.
Holiday in a luxury boutique hotel in the Zanzibar archipelago with Small Luxury Hotels of the World and feel rejuvenated by spa treatments using indigenous wild honey, raw sugar and spices. Fall asleep to the sound of waves in a four-poster bed swathed in white muslin.