Beaches in Zanzibar

Nungwi sits at Zanzibar's northern tip and it is the one beach on the island where the sea stays swimmable all day. The tidal range at this end is small, unlike the east coast lagoons, which is why most first time visitors are steered here. It is also the busiest: dive shops, dhow builders still working on the sand, a long line of hotels and the liveliest evenings outside Stone Town. The north tip faces west, so the sunsets are the other reason people come.

Kendwa is about 3 km southwest of Nungwi and quieter, with the same advantage of a small tidal range, so you can get into the water at any hour. The sand is wide and the seabed shelves gently, which makes it the easier of the two beaches for families. Kendwa Rocks runs the island's best known full moon party, so check the lunar calendar depending on whether you want that night or want to avoid it.

Paje is Zanzibar's kitesurfing centre, and the reason is the same thing that frustrates swimmers: a wide shallow lagoon inside the reef with steady cross shore wind, strongest from around June to September and again from December to February. At low tide the sea pulls back several hundred metres and the lagoon becomes a walking flat. Seaweed is farmed along this stretch, so expect stakes and drying racks on the sand. Good beach bars, young crowd.

Matemwe is the longest beach on the island and the closest point to Mnemba Atoll, where the best snorkelling and diving off Zanzibar is. It is quieter than Kiwengwa and Nungwi, with fishing villages sitting between the hotels rather than one continuous resort strip. The tide here does empty the lagoon for part of the day, so ask your hotel for the tide table when you arrive.

Jambiani runs about 7 km along the southeast coast through a working fishing village, and it is where to stay if you want village life rather than a resort compound. Seaweed farming is the main livelihood alongside fishing, so at low tide you will see the plots being worked offshore. That same low tide takes the swimming away for several hours a day. Accommodation is mostly small guesthouses, and it is one of the cheaper bases on the island.

Kiwengwa is the northeast resort strip, a long sandy shore backed by large all inclusive hotels, and it is where a lot of package itineraries land. The tide shifts the waterline by a couple of hundred metres, so the beach you photograph at nine in the morning is not the beach at two in the afternoon. Jozani Forest and Stone Town are both easy day trips from here.

Nakupenda is a sandbank rather than a beach, a 15 minute boat ride from Stone Town harbour, and it surfaces at low tide and vanishes again as the water rises. Boats leave in the morning and most trips include lunch cooked on the sand. Go early, because it is crowded by midday and gone by evening. The name means I love you in Swahili.

Bwejuu is the quiet stretch between Paje and the Michamvi peninsula, wide and lined with palms, with far fewer hotels than its neighbours. It is also one of the clearest examples of the east coast tide: at low water the sea is a long walk out and swimming is not an option for several hours. Seaweed plots run through the shallows here as well. Come for the space and the walking rather than an all day swim.

Pongwe sits in a sheltered cove between Kiwengwa and Uroa, and the coral outcrops just offshore trap more water at low tide than the open stretches further south, so it stays swimmable for longer. It is small, quiet and cheaper than the resort strips. A handful of hotels, very few beach sellers, and not much to do beyond swimming and eating, which is the point of it.

Kizimkazi is a fishing village on the southern tip, made up of Kizimkazi Mkunguni and Kizimkazi Mtendeni. Boat operators here run dolphin trips, and it is worth knowing that these are often crowded and involve chasing the pods, so choose carefully or skip them. The village holds the Kizimkazi Mosque, whose mihrab inscription dates to the early twelfth century and makes it one of the oldest surviving Islamic buildings on the East African coast. That is the better reason to come.

Mtende is a small cove on the south coast, held between two rock headlands, with a rope swing on the rocks that most visitors photograph. There is a small entry fee, a couple of clifftop restaurants and usually no mobile signal. Access is down steps through the rock, so it does not suit anyone with mobility difficulties. Come for an hour or two rather than a full beach day.

Muyuni is a short, quiet stretch near Matemwe, sheltered by the reef with almost nothing built behind it. There is little here beyond sand, a few fishing boats and the reef offshore, which is exactly why repeat visitors to Zanzibar pick it. The tide behaves as it does everywhere on this coast, so time a swim for high water.