Things to do in Pemba Island
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Pemba Island
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Long dry season: best roads, forest, boats and diving window.
Short rains: green, humid, travel possible, boats weather-dependent.
Short dry season: hot and often calm, good for Misali snorkelling.
Long rains: heavy rain, rough spells, resort closures, avoid if you can.
What's on
- Pemba bullfighting Around New Year and local festivals, dates irregular
Portuguese-era tradition where the bull is teased, not killed. Ask locally, no fixed calendar.
- Clove harvest Main harvest period, timing varies with the rains
Drying cloves on mats along village roads across the island.
Best things to do in Pemba Island
Pemba Museum
Small fort museum that gives Pemba its history in an hour: Swahili, Omani, cloves and dhows.
Chake Chake Market
Working island market for cloves, spices, fruit and dried fish, busiest and best in the morning.
Ras Mkumbuu Ruins
Early Swahili trading town ruins west of Chake Chake, rewarding with a local guide and water.
Wete
Northern port town for harbour life, market and ferry traffic, and a base for the far north.
Where to stay in Pemba Island
Kigomasha and Makangale, far north
luxury beach stays and diving
Quietest beaches and the top resorts, but well over an hour from Karume Airport.
North-west dive coast
divers on a mid-range budget
Gecko Lodge and Swahili Divers put Ngezi Forest and the reef in one base.
South-west and Shamiani
seclusion and barefoot luxury or eco stays
Fundu Lagoon and Pemba Lodge are remote by design, reached by road and boat.
Chake Chake and Wete towns
budget and independent travel
Town hotels, markets, transport and local eating, with beaches as day trips.
Think twice about
- Rural roads after dark
Unlit roads, poor vehicle and motorbike safety and no roadside help. Travel in daylight and use a known driver.
Best restaurants in Pemba Island
Tahfif Restaurant
Central local eatery for rice dishes, grilled fish and curries at island prices.
Sharif Restaurant
Simple Swahili plates in Chake Chake, best at lunch when the day's cooking is fullest.
Pemba Paradise
Reliable resort dinner in the north: fresh fish, Swahili and international plates at sunset.
The Manta Resort
Top-end resort dining over the Pemba Channel, realistically for resident guests by arrangement.
Fundu Lagoon
Resident-guest splurge dining: seafood and Swahili-influenced plates, plus jetty sunsets.
Outdoor things to do in Pemba Island
Ngezi Forest Reserve
Last big indigenous forest on Pemba: tall canopy, monkeys and endemic birds on guided trails.
Kidike Flying Fox Sanctuary
Community roost of thousands of Pemba flying foxes, an endemic bat seen best in late afternoon.
Misali Island
Forested marine reserve island with a white beach and strong snorkelling over healthy coral.
Vumawimbi Beach
Long, pale and usually empty northern swimming beach with almost no facilities: bring everything.
Afro Divers
Small diver-run centre for quiet wall and reef diving in the Pemba Channel with careful guiding.
Swahili Divers
Long-established centre at Gecko Lodge, strong on experienced and technical-leaning reef diving.
Best hotels in Pemba Island
The Manta Resort
Remote barefoot luxury in the far north, built around diving and its famous Underwater Room.
The Aiyana Resort & Spa
Polished villa resort on Makangale beach with spa and pool, quiet and full-service.
Fundu Lagoon
Classic tented barefoot luxury above a private beach, with diving, spa and sunset jetty.
Pemba Paradise
Mid-sized northern beach resort with pool and restaurant, below the luxury lodges on price.
Pemba Lodge
Solar eco lodge with a handful of sea-facing bungalows and a true castaway quiet.
Swahili Divers & Gecko Nature Lodge
Dive lodge in forest by the beach, with good food, rooms and rare dorm beds.
Hifadhi Hotel
Simple town hotel near the airport for the museum, market and island connections.
Pemba Crown Hotel
Basic friendly Wete hotel near the ferry, a cheap base for the forest and the north.
Is Pemba Island expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TZS 120,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TZS 450,000 a person |
| Splurge | TZS 1,800,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Misali Island: a few days ahead
- Afro Divers: weeks ahead
- Swahili Divers: weeks ahead
- The Manta Resort: months ahead
- The Aiyana Resort & Spa: months ahead
- Fundu Lagoon: months ahead
- Pemba Paradise: weeks ahead
- Pemba Lodge: weeks ahead
- Luxury lodges, the Manta Underwater Room, dive places and PMA flights in June to October.
- Check rain-season closure dates at Fundu Lagoon and The Manta Resort before booking March to May.
Is Pemba Island safe?
- Avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, keep a low profile in towns, and monitor local media during election periods.
- Malaria is present: prophylaxis, repellent and nets, and an evacuation plan for serious illness.
- Dress modestly in towns, ask before photos, and note same-sex conduct is illegal. Emergency 112.
Pemba Island travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Treating Pemba as a cheaper Zanzibar: it is quieter, greener and pricier at resort level.
- Counting on Pemba ATMs or card machines: bring cash in Tanzanian shillings.
- Rushing a day trip from Unguja: flights allow it, the island does not reward it.
Getting around Pemba Island: public transport and more
- Fly to Karume Airport (PMA) from Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam or Arusha and pre-book lodge transfers.
- Dala dala minibuses link Chake Chake, Wete and Mkoani cheaply and slowly.
- Hire a car with a driver for the north: airport to far north takes well over an hour.
Who Pemba Island suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | OK |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | OK |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Pemba Island your trip
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