The Zanzibar beach where the sea never leaves

From Kendwa: Mnemba Boat Trip and Dolphin Snorkel Adventure

The standout Mnemba trip for anyone sleeping in Kendwa, with more than 1,400 reviews. The boat rounds the northern tip of the island to the atoll, the crew looks for dolphins along the way, and you get a long snorkel over the reef before heading back in time for a late lunch.

• Leaves straight from Kendwa — no minibus to the east coast
• Snorkel the coral gardens of the Mnemba conservation area
• Dolphin search on the way out, snorkel gear included

Zanzibar: Sunset Dhow Cruise in Nungwi & Kendwa

Kendwa looks due west, so every clear evening ends with the sun dropping into the sea. Seeing it from the deck of a dhow, with the beach bars lighting up behind you, is the classic north-coast evening — and at this price it is hard to find a reason not to.

• A traditional wooden dhow under a lateen sail
• The sun going down behind Tumbatu Island
• Departures from Kendwa or Nungwi

Tumbatu Island Snorkelling Tour from Kendwa & Nungwi

Tumbatu is the long, low island on the horizon opposite Kendwa. Its fringing reefs are only a short boat ride away and see a fraction of the traffic that Mnemba gets, which makes this the easy half-day snorkel when you do not want a long crossing.

• The island you see from your sunbed, up close
• Quiet reefs with far fewer boats than Mnemba
• Short crossing — back on the beach by lunchtime

Zanzibar: Quad Biking Adventure from Kendwa or Nungwi

The highest-rated activity on the north coast, with well over 1,700 reviews. A guided quad ride through farmland and villages inland of Kendwa shows you the everyday Zanzibar that lies a few hundred metres behind the resorts. Priced per quad, which two people can share.

• Ride dirt tracks behind the north-coast beaches
• Stops at two beaches and a local village
• Free transfer from Kendwa and Nungwi hotels

Zanzibar: Stone Town, Spice Tour & Prison Island with Lunch

Three of the island’s essential sights in a single day, and by far the most-reviewed way to do them. A long day from Kendwa — Stone Town is over an hour’s drive — but it ticks off the history, the tortoises and the spices in one go.

• A guided walk through UNESCO-listed Stone Town
• Boat to Prison Island and its giant tortoises
• Spice farm visit with a Swahili lunch

Zanzibar: Safari Blue Lagoon Trip with Snorkelling and Lunch

The famous full day among the sandbanks and islets of the Menai Bay conservation area. It starts from Fumba in the far south-west, so from Kendwa you should allow well over an hour and a half by road each way — an early start, but many visitors call it the best day of their holiday.

• Dhow sailing and guided snorkelling in Menai Bay
• A sandbank stop and a swim in a mangrove lagoon
• Seafood lunch, tropical fruit and soft drinks

Zanzibar: Jozani Forest, Spice Farm & Stone Town Private Tour

A private car and guide for the whole day, which is the comfortable way to cover Zanzibar’s long distances from the north. Forest in the morning, spices at midday, Stone Town in the afternoon — and you decide where to linger.

• Red colobus monkeys and the mangrove boardwalk at Jozani
• Smell and taste your way round a spice farm
• Stone Town with your own guide, at your own pace

Zanzibar: Transparent Kayak and Drone (Pickup Included)

Part gentle paddle, part photo shoot: you take a clear-hulled kayak out over the pale sand and turquoise water between Nungwi and Kendwa while a drone films from above. Nearly 570 reviews at 4.8 suggest people come away happy with the pictures.

• Paddle a see-through kayak over the shallows
• Professional drone photos and video of you from above
• Only an hour — easy to fit into a beach day

Kendwa Beach

Zanzibar’s all-tide swimming beach

A broad, west-facing sweep of pale sand on the north-west coast of Unguja where the seabed drops away quickly enough that the water stays deep at low tide. That, the sunsets and the monthly Full Moon Party are why people choose Kendwa over anywhere else on the island.

Mnemba Atoll

The island’s best reef, about an hour by boat

A protected ring of coral around a tiny private island off the north-east coast. Boats from Kendwa round the tip of Zanzibar to reach clear water, dense fish life and, on many mornings, pods of dolphins.

Tumbatu Island

The quiet island on Kendwa’s horizon

The long, low island that lies off the coast opposite Kendwa. Its people keep largely to themselves, its reefs are lightly visited, and a short boat ride gets you snorkelling without the crowds of Mnemba.

Nungwi

The lively village next door

Three kilometres up the coast, at the very tip of the island, Nungwi is Kendwa’s busier neighbour: a fishing and boatbuilding village with the north’s widest choice of restaurants, bars and dive centres, a lighthouse and a turtle lagoon.

Stone Town

The old Swahili capital

The historic heart of Zanzibar City and a UNESCO World Heritage Site: a tangle of lanes, carved doors, mosques, palaces and markets shaped by centuries of African, Arab, Indian and European trade.

Prison Island

Giant tortoises off Stone Town

Changuu, a small island about half an hour by boat from Stone Town, where a 19th-century prison that never held prisoners now shares the ground with a colony of Aldabra giant tortoises, some of them more than a century old.