Why Jambiani is the place to be in Zanzibar? Zanzibar’s Jambiani is a real and beautiful town. What are the best places to eat, stay, and things to do in Jambiani? Learn everything about it.

This tropical island is great for a vacation because it has a lot of different cultures, beautiful nature, and friendly people. It’s our favorite place to stay in Zanzibar. It will also be yours if you love beautiful beaches, fun things to do, nice places with tasty food, and real life.

Village for fishing

The fishing town of Jambiani is old and is on the southeast coast of Zanzibar. Not many cabins or guest houses are there, so it feels very real. There is a chill vibe, and locals and tourists are friendly with each other. In order to make money, they mostly fish and grow seaweed. You can get a good feel for the way people live here, and the best part is that you can get to everything on foot.

There are many good places on the beach where you can eat seafood or other tasty local foods. After your meal, take a short walk in the sand. Yes, Jambiani really is that pretty!

Beach in Jambiani

We should stay at the beach! Unlike some beaches in the north, this 7-kilometer beach has very few rocks or sea urchins. It has soft, fine sand and palm trees that sway in the wind. A few kilometers away is the barrier reef, and in the middle is a beautiful blue lagoon. It is great for swimming, snorkeling, and diving, and you can see a lot of sea life from here. Because the side shore winds are always there, Jambiani is also a great place to wind or kitesurf. You can swim in the Indian Ocean when the tide is high, and you can enjoy a nice beach walk when the tide is low.

Food places in Jambiani

Finding all of Jambiani’s cute places is a fun thing to do in and of itself. Most of them are part of hotels that are right on the beach. You can eat pizza, seafood that was just caught, meat or veggie dishes, and many other tasty foods. If you like seafood, you should order lobster and Cigal (tasty Zanzibari crab) at Casa Del Mar. You will be in culinary heaven! We can also suggest Nur Beach, Blue Reef, and The Loop as good places to eat. A wood-fired pizza oven at The Blue Reef makes the best pizza in Zanzibar, and the drinks are also great.

There are many great places to eat in Jambiani, so we suggest that you only book bed and breakfast at your lodge and not full board.

Jambiani has live music, food, and drinks.
Every lodge has its own restaurant where everyone is welcome to have a drink or a nice meal. Every day, at a different lodge, they have live music, happy hours, or parties for the travelers to enjoy.

Every day from 5 to 7 p.m., Blue Reef has happy hour, where you can enjoy music, drinks, and the sunset.

The barbecue and dance are on Wednesday at New Teddy’s on the Beach (Paje).

On Thursday, the Demani Lodge, Bar & Restaurant (Paje) will have a barbecue and live music.

Jambo Jambiani Beach Villa will have live music on Friday.

Saturday: There will be live music at Before

On Sunday, Vuvuzela and Red Monkey Lodge will have live music.

Things to do in Jambiani

Fishing in deep water

We can plan a deep sea fishing trip for either half a day or the whole day. The Indian Ocean is famous for its great game fishing because it has so many different kinds of fish, like tuna, marlin, sailfish, barracuda, and dorado. Go out to sea and sail deep to catch some amazing big fish that can weigh up to 60 kg.

Getting wet

Some of the best corals in Africa live in the beautiful coral reefs. There are many places to dive, and the sea life is very diverse. The dive school Nakupenda is at The Loop, and we work with them so that you can see seahorses, octopuses, stingrays, frogfish, Napoleon fish, and turtles where they live.

Flying a kite

Because the winds are steady on the side, Jambiani is a great place to wind or kitesurf. The beaches are peaceful, and the water is not deep, so you can see little sea-urchins. You can also just use a board instead of a kite and ride the waves.

Things going on just outside of Jambiani

Visit the nearby village

Visit a school, a tailor, or a boat builder to learn about how people live in the area. You can also see how people in the area use kelp to make soap or cream and coconuts to make a lot of different things.

A trip to Blue Lagoon to snorkel

To start the day, take a 15-minute drive to Dongwe, which is where the Blue Lagoon is. The reef and tropical fish here make this one of the best places to snorkel in Zanzibar. Because the depths are between 1 and 4 meters, you can see well enough to swim. After that, go to The Rock and enjoy some good food and drinks. This eatery is set on a rock in the water. A great spot to take in the view. The most beautiful sunset in Zanzibar can be seen at Kae Funk in Michamvi at the end of the day.

Putting up

Stone Town is 55 kilometers away from Jambiani. It will take you about 1.5 hours to get there, but it is well worth the time.

You want to find this secret gem for yourself? Or maybe you’d like to mix a luxurious vacation with a safari you are sure to never forget? Let us know what kind of Tanzania vacation you want, and we’ll make it happen!