The north for its icons, the south for its space, the west for its forests.
Four very different stretches of Swahili coast. Most give it four nights; we would argue for six.
Route choice decides your summit odds far more than fitness does.
Any itinerary can be shaped around the way you actually want to travel.
Eight of them, and not one is a countdown clock.
For the days either side of a climb, or a first taste of Tanzania before the long safari begins. All from Arusha or Moshi.
Hillier, greener and far less visited than Zanzibar, fifty kilometres to the north. Clove smallholdings, a forest with a bat found nowhere else, and some of the most serious wall diving in the Indian Ocean.
Pemba is the other island, and almost nobody goes. It is greener than Unguja, properly hilly, and almost entirely given over to clove trees — for a long stretch of the twentieth century this island produced a large share of the world’s cloves, and the smell of them drying is still the smell of the place.
There is very little tourism. A handful of lodges, no resort strip, and roads that are mostly unpaved. What there is instead is a reef wall that drops away hard into the Pemba Channel, which is why the divers who come here are usually experienced ones.
Ngezi Forest in the north is the last piece of the forest that once covered the island, and it holds the Pemba flying fox, a large fruit bat that lives nowhere else.
Pemba suits people who want the Swahili coast without the infrastructure. It does not suit anyone who wants a choice of restaurants.
The usual way
Thirty minutes in a light aircraft to Chake Chake, several flights a week and daily in season. Straightforward, and the approach over the reef is worth the window seat.
Schedules are thin, so a missed connection can cost you a day. Build in a buffer.
Direct to the island
Around forty-five minutes, useful if you are not stopping on Unguja at all. Both routes land at Chake Chake in the centre of the island.
Fewer flights than the Zanzibar route and they fill in high season.
The cheap option
Ferries run to Mkoani in the south. Considerably cheaper than flying and it is a genuine passage across open water.
Long, frequently rough, and cancelled without much notice in the kusi wind season. We rarely recommend it.
The dependable window. Dry, breezy, good visibility on the wall, and the island at its most comfortable.
ExceptionalThe best diving visibility of the year, stiller water and warm nights. The other window to aim for.
ExceptionalShort afternoon rain, otherwise fine. Very quiet and good value.
GoodHumid, and wet by the end of the month. The first half is usually still workable.
GoodHeavy. Lodges close, boats stay in, and the roads become difficult. Not a month to book Pemba.
Low seasonDry and pleasant on land; the channel can be choppy, which affects the crossing more than the diving.
GoodThe last of the island’s original forest, and home to the Pemba flying fox — a fruit bat with a metre-wide wingspan that exists nowhere else. Guided walks from the reserve gate.
A small uninhabited island inside a conservation area, with a beach, a nesting turtle population and reef that is in noticeably better condition than most.
The reef edge drops steeply into deep water along much of the west coast. Big fish, hard corals and current — genuinely good diving, and not beginner diving.
Smallholdings across the hills, drying mats of cloves outside houses, and a smell you do not forget. This is the island’s actual economy, not a display put on for visitors.
Steep drop-offs and strong current on the west coast. Operators are few and small. Bring your certification and be honest about your experience.
Shallow reef in good condition inside the conservation area, reached by boat from the west coast.
A guided couple of hours for the flying fox, the Pemba scops owl and a forest that has all but gone elsewhere on the island.
A walk through the smallholdings with someone who farms them. Unstaged, and more interesting than the equivalent on Unguja.
The small island capital, plus the Portuguese-era ruins at Pujini and Ras Mkumbuu on the peninsula.
There are a handful of places to stay on the whole island and no resort of any kind. The choice is small, which makes it simple.
A night here — a simple room in Chake Chake or Wete, a fan, and an island getting on with its day outside.
The island towns have basic guesthouses at very low prices, used mostly by Tanzanian travellers and clove traders. No sea view, no diving, no English menu. It is how to see Pemba on very little, and it puts you in the middle of ordinary island life.
A night here — a room above the channel, a dive boat on the beach below, and nothing audible after dark.
A small number of lodges on the west coast, each running its own boats to the wall and to Misali. This is the reason most visitors come and where almost all of them stay. Small, owner-run, and booked months ahead for December to February.
A night here — your own stretch of reef, a handful of other guests, and a boat as the only way off.
A couple of properties occupy their own small islands off Pemba, reached by boat and priced for it. Complete seclusion, house reef at the door, and everything — food, water, power — brought across.
Book early, because there is almost nothing. A handful of lodges serve the whole island, and in the December to February window they fill months ahead. There is no fallback if they are full.
Where you stay decides your diving. The lodges run their own boats and the west-coast wall is what they reach. Staying elsewhere on the island and travelling to dive does not really work here.
Honest travel times, and the pairings we most often build around it.
Marine park and reserve fees are charged per person per day where they apply, and Jozani, Mnemba and the Mafia marine park each have their own. We quote them inside the trip price rather than leaving you to pay at a jetty.
These are Muslim communities. On the beach and inside a hotel, ordinary beachwear is fine. In a village, in Stone Town and anywhere off the sand, cover shoulders and knees. During Ramadan many places do not serve food in daylight and it is courteous not to eat or drink in the street.
Malaria prophylaxis is advised on the coast year-round, and mosquitoes here are active at dusk rather than at midday. A yellow fever certificate is required if you arrive from a country with risk of transmission.
The tidal range is very large, particularly on the east coast, where the sea can withdraw close to a kilometre at low water. It is not a fault in the beach; it is the beach. We will tell you which coast suits how you want to swim.
Taxis and transfers are straightforward and arranged in advance. Public dala-dalas are cheap and slow. Renting a scooter is popular and is also where most traveller injuries here come from.
Most nationalities can obtain a Tanzanian visa on arrival or online in advance. Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, so no separate visa is needed, but you will pass through an immigration desk on arrival.
For emptiness and for the diving. Pemba has a fraction of the visitors, greener and more dramatic country, and a reef wall that is better than anything off Unguja. It has almost none of the choice.
Yes, and it is demanding. Steep walls, big fish and real current. Experienced divers rate it among the best in the Indian Ocean; new divers often find it intimidating.
Four to six. Getting there costs the better part of a day at each end, so a short stay is mostly travel.
Ngezi Forest, the clove country, the ruins at Pujini and Ras Mkumbuu, and Chake Chake. It is a few days’ worth, not a week’s.
Easily, and it is the usual shape — a few nights on Pemba for the diving and quiet, then Stone Town and a beach on Unguja.
A large fruit bat found only on this island, with a wingspan approaching a metre. It was close to extinction and has recovered through community protection of its roosts. Ngezi is the place to see it.
Getting there is. The lodges span a wide range, and because there is little to spend money on once you arrive, a week on Pemba is often cheaper overall than a week on Unguja.
April and May. The long rains are heavy, most lodges close, and boats do not run.
Where you should be depends almost entirely on when you can travel. Tell us that and we will say honestly whether Pemba Island is right for you that month — or whether somewhere else would serve you better.