Chumbe Island — Attraction in undefined

My partner and I spent one day and one night on the stunning Chumbe Island (which was far too short, I wish we stayed more) with just two other couples. It was a beautiful, blissful, wholesome and sweet stay for so many reasons. So much thought and care has gone into preserving the natural beauty and resources of this land. There is very limited WiFi and reception there, but I see this as a bonus. This is a much welcomed retreat after being surrounded by swarms of tourists in Zanzibar for a week.

While I can’t speak to the value of the day trips there, if you stay the night, the activities are all so well timed and planned, with plenty of cushion room to unwind and explore. I thought the snorkeling and coral reefs were exceptional and by far the best we saw in Zanzibar. The food wonderfully showcases the depth of the Swahili culinary tradition and we didn’t leave any food on our plates. The view of the entire island from the lighthouse is also incredible — you won’t find a view of the island AND mainland with such intimate viewing experience anywhere else in Zanzibar. And I loved the coconut crab walk (it’s the largest living land crab in the world!) in the evening, which will just be a delight for anyone and bring out your inner child. The bungalows are also cozy, stunning and tasteful — you’ll fall asleep to the sound of the waves and wake up to sea views with coffee delivered to your doorstep.

My partner and I also got engaged on the island! While this does not influence my review in any way, I know the staff went to great lengths to make this a perfect evening for us and were exceptional at crafting this special moment for us in the weeks before we arrived. This was the highlight of our trip to Zanzibar and I hope it retains its simplicity and charm in the years to come. Our deepest gratitude to the amazing staff (with extra big hugs to Vera, Margareth, Chagga, Zena and Mak, who made us feel so at home here)....

Chumbe is one of those places you really feel bad rating down, as you want them so much to be great. But truth be told a day at Chumbe is a rather boring, very highly priced and wildly overpromised affair. Curb your expectations, in other words.

So what is a day here? Expect 25 mins’ish on boat out/in. Nice ride! After a rest, we went out and spent around 30 minutes snorkling in an ok reef with few fish. So expect almost nothing of your day to be in water!

They tout the protection. True, a portion of the reef in front of the bungalows is protected, the rest is not. I find it frankly a tad hard to understand all their claims on protection vs what I saw and experienced. The story feels..off. As far as snorkling not a great spot if you have travelled a bit. I even liked snorkling around Paje more, and there we also had some great dives.

Then a hike in a protected forest…well, a 200 meter path with some signs, botanical garden style. Over and over the info from the guide was incorrect so I lost belief any of it was true (this was after the short snorkle). A coral rag forest should be wildly fascinating, here it is not. Would maybe urge a change in presentation format.

There were good things! The food, the vibe of the location and the friendly people. We did get to see a coconut crab, very cool! And a shark from land! We even got to hike around the low tide part of the island, that was supercool.

Does it merit a daytrip? For us coming from Paje beach with 3 people (a 450 USD expense). Absolutely not! If you sleep over? Perhaps it is better then?

You may not see it the same way, but curb your expectations, do not expect time in water, and you may get...

This year I stayed my 17th time on the island and I am still excited of all the news this beautiful reef offers. This time I was happy to find a new fish species that was never seen and documented before in this reef. For me a matter of special importance. How a day tripper, visiting the reef for a maximum of 90 minutes, pretend to know everything about the reef and it‘s healthiness and dare to publish such a glimpse! Wrong conclusions may hurt the wrong people! Chumbe Island and his reef is a special place. But I am shure that for visitors who are believing that this island has to be how it was imagined by them as an ideal impression this island is the wrong place for them. But visitors who have a friendly relationship to nature will value the island for what it is known for: Aside the mass tourism getting to know a living environment that got irrevocable lost in many places in our world. To keep this continuing the management spend a lot of time and money. Every visitor makes a contribution to it. It is correct that climate change has affected the reef. But not the management is responsible for the increase of water temperatures that kills the coral polyps. But the management of this first private marine sanctuary feels responsible to set the requirements that the reef will recover in a shorter time. Because the reef is vivid and strong enough to make it. They make it possible to keep the environment as healthy as possible to be home for many endangered species. I look forward to my next visit and I am keen to see how the reef has regenerated and to find other...