Zanzibar Tours

ZANZIBAR Zanzibar Park Tour Packages.

City on the western coast of Zanzibar island, eastern Tanzania. Lying in a natural harbour, in the path of winds from the Arabian Peninsula, the town has been an important trading post since the 8th century. Fishing is the town’s main industry, but there is also trade in tobacco, coconuts, copra, and fruit, as well as the manufacture of clove oil. Zanzibar is the island's chief port and is served by both large and small vessels. It is also the centre of the island's road system and the location of an international airport.

Divers in Stone Town can easily arrange a day trip to the surrounding reefs. Numerous dive schools rent equipment and embark on longer journeys. From Stone Town, trips to Prison Island and nearby Chumbe Island Marine Park are especially rewarding because the surrounding coral is protected and preserved.

Turtles, manta rays, dolphins, and other large marine species are often sighted, and there is a shipwreck nearby. On the north coast, expeditions embark to Mnemba Atoll and the nearby reef and the area’s high visibility offers some of the best diving on the island.

Portuguese invasion and control of the Swahili Coast in the late 16th century ended the golden age of the archipelago, although the Omani Arabs returned to power less than a century later. Today, many of the winding streets and high townhouses of old Stone Town remain unchanged and visitors can walk between the sultan’s palace, the House of Wonders, the Portuguese fort and gardens, the merchants’ houses, and the Turkish baths of the old city. Day-long spice tours to working plantations offer visitors the chance to observe the cultivation of cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other spices that have made the island famous.

Zanzibar’s coastline offers some of the best beaches in the world, but sand and surf vary depending on what side of the island you’re on. On the east coast, waves break over coral reefs and sand bars offshore, and low tide reveals small pools of starfish, small minnows, and anemones. Up north, ocean swimming is much less susceptible to the tides, and smooth beaches and white sand make for dazzling days in the sun.

The port city of Stone Town dominates the west coast, and although the beaches of Mangapwani, where slave caves are visible at low tide and nearby Bububu are less than half an hour’s drive away, a night or two spent on the east or north cost is well worth the extra hour it takes to drive there. That said, the Chole Island Marine Park just off Stone Town – and nearby Prison, Grave, and Snake Islands – make a refreshing day-trip and a good break from exploring the winding passageways of the old city.

On the south coast of Zanzibar lies the Menai Bay Conservation Area, a sea turtle protection area for the endangered species that come to breed on the island. Roads to the southeast coast take visitors through the Jozani Forest, home to Zanzibar’s rare Red Colobus monkeys and a number of other primate and small antelope species.