Zanzibar offers plenty to fill a week: exploring Stone Town, snorkelling coral reefs, feeding giant tortoises on Prison Island, spice farm tours, dhow sailing, and long afternoons on white sand beaches. Visitors can mix days out on the water with slower time ashore. Zanzibar is an Indian Ocean archipelago off the Tanzanian coast, known for its trading history and beaches.
This guide lists twenty specific things to do in Zanzibar, and every one of them is a real, bookable tour or experience you can arrange through a hotel desk, a local guide, or an online operator. Some sit close to Stone Town, others need a longer drive to the north or the far south. Read through, pick the ones that match your pace, and build a loose plan around the tides and the wind.
Many of these activities pair well together on a single day. A Stone Town walk fits neatly with a spice farm visit, and Prison Island slots into the same boat morning as the Nakupenda sandbank. Grouping tours by area saves you money and hours in the car.
1. Stone Town Walking Tour
Start where most visitors do. Stone Town is the old heart of Zanzibar City, a maze of coral rag houses, carved wooden doors, and shaded alleys barely wide enough for two people. A guided walking tour is the best way to read the layers here, because street signs are rare and the lanes twist back on themselves. Over two or three hours a local guide takes you past the Old Fort, the former slave market and the Anglican Cathedral built above it, the tall House of Wonders, the Palace Museum, and the busy Darajani produce market. You will also pass the birthplace of the singer Freddie Mercury, now marked for fans. The famous carved doors, some studded with brass spikes, tell you about the wealth and the trades of the families who once lived behind them. Wear light clothes that cover shoulders and knees, since this is a working Muslim town.
2. Spice Farm Tour
Zanzibar earned the nickname Spice Island in the nineteenth century, when its plantations grew much of the world’s cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. A spice farm tour, usually a short drive from Stone Town, is a walking visit through a working smallholding where a guide shows you how each crop grows. You will rub a fresh clove between your fingers, taste a wild lime, bite into a cocoa pod, and see turmeric root pulled straight from the soil. Guides often weave palm leaves into hats and baskets while you walk, and a young helper may climb a coconut tree to bring one down. The tour usually ends with a plate of seasonal fruit and a chance to buy small bags of fresh spices at farm prices. It is a gentle, shaded outing that works well for families and older travellers.
3. Jozani Forest Red Colobus Tour
Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park is the only national park on the island and the largest patch of native forest left in Zanzibar. Its main draw is the Zanzibar red colobus monkey, a species found nowhere else on earth. The animals live in relaxed troops that let visitors stand a few metres away as they feed and groom in the low branches. A guided walk on the forest trails takes about an hour, and a second short section leads you along a raised boardwalk over a mangrove swamp, where crabs scuttle in the mud below. Guides point out medicinal plants, giant fig trees, and the smaller wildlife such as bush babies and duikers. Keep a respectful distance from the monkeys, since touching them is not allowed and helps protect a population that numbers only a few thousand.
4. Prison Island Giant Tortoise Trip
A short boat ride off Stone Town sits Changuu, better known as Prison Island. The prison was never really used for prisoners, but the island became a quarantine station, and today it is famous for its colony of Aldabra giant tortoises. These animals were a gift from the Seychelles more than a century ago, and the oldest of them are well past a hundred years, some weighing close to two hundred kilos. A sanctuary on the island lets you walk among them, feed them leaves, and watch the youngsters in their protected pens, each marked with its year of birth. The boat trip takes about twenty minutes each way, and most tours leave time for a swim and a look at the old ruins before you head back. It is one of the easier half day trips from town.
5. Nakupenda Sandbank Picnic
Nakupenda means “I love you” in Swahili, and the name fits this thin ribbon of white sand that appears in the middle of the ocean at low tide. There is no shade and no buildings, just sand, warm shallow water, and a horizon in every direction. Boats drop you for a few hours while the tide is low, and crews often set up a fresh seafood lunch right there on the sand, with grilled fish, prawns, rice, and tropical fruit served under a simple canopy. You can swim, snorkel over nearby coral, or just sit in the shallows. Because the sandbank floods again as the tide rises, timing matters, and your operator will plan the trip around the water. Bring plenty of sunscreen and a hat, since there is nowhere to hide from the midday sun.
6. Safari Blue Full Day Boat Trip
Safari Blue is the island’s best known sea adventure, running out of the fishing village of Fumba on the southwest coast. The full day trip explores the protected waters of Menai Bay aboard a traditional wooden dhow fitted with sails. Over the course of the day you snorkel on a coral reef, look for the resident bottlenose dolphins, and land on a sandbar for a large seafood buffet with more than a dozen kinds of tropical fruit. There is usually a stop at a mangrove lagoon where strong swimmers can float in the deep clear water. Crews serve local drinks and play music on the sail back, and the whole outing runs around seven hours. It suits travellers who want one big day on the water that mixes swimming, wildlife, and a proper meal.
7. Nungwi Beach Day
At the northern tip of the island, Nungwi has the widest sand and the least tide of any Zanzibar beach, which means you can swim at almost any hour. This is the busy, social end of the coast, lined with beach bars, dhow builders working timber by hand, and small dive shops. You can spend a whole day here doing very little, or fill it with jet skis, parasailing, and boat hire. The village is one of the oldest on the island and still builds wooden dhows on the sand using methods passed down for generations. Sunset at Nungwi faces west over open water, so the evening light is long and warm. If you want a base with plenty of restaurants and nightlife within walking distance, this is the spot on the island to choose.
8. Kendwa Beach Day
Just south of Nungwi, Kendwa is its quieter neighbour, with the same low tide and clear swimming water but a calmer feel. The sand is soft and pale, the water stays deep enough to swim through the day, and a row of relaxed beach bars serves cold drinks and fresh seafood. Kendwa is well loved for its full moon beach parties, but on ordinary nights it settles into a slow rhythm that suits couples and anyone after rest. Snorkelling gear, paddleboards, and short boat trips are easy to arrange from the beach. Planning a stretch of pure beach time is simple here, and a good local operator such as Holidays to Zanzibar can package Kendwa nights with the day tours listed elsewhere in this guide so you are not driving back and forth across the island.
9. Sunset Dhow Cruise
A dhow is the wooden sailing boat that has worked these waters for centuries, and a sunset cruise on one is a soft, easy way to end a day. Most trips leave from Nungwi or Kendwa in the late afternoon, raising a single tall sail and drifting along the northern coast as the sun sinks toward the sea. Crews pour beer, wine, and soft drinks, hand round small snacks, and often play local music while the sky turns orange and pink. The pace is slow and there is nothing to do but watch the light change and take a few photos. Trips usually last around ninety minutes to two hours. It works as a romantic outing for couples and as a gentle group activity, and it needs no special skill or fitness from anyone on board.
10. Mnemba Atoll Snorkeling Trip
Mnemba is a tiny private island off the northeast coast, ringed by an atoll that holds the richest reef in Zanzibar. You cannot land on the island itself, but the surrounding water is open to snorkellers, and it is the top marine trip on offer here. Boats leave from Nungwi, Kendwa, or Matemwe, and within twenty minutes you are floating over coral gardens full of clownfish, parrotfish, angelfish, and often green turtles. A pod of dolphins lives in the area and sometimes swims past the boats. The water is clear and the reef sits close to the surface, so even beginners get a good view with a mask and fins. Most operators supply the gear and include a stop on a nearby sandbank. Go early, since morning water is calmest and the light underwater is at its best.
11. Scuba Diving at Mnemba
For those who want to go deeper, the same Mnemba atoll is Zanzibar’s leading dive site, with several walls and gentle slopes that suit different experience levels. Certified divers can book two tank trips to see larger fish, moray eels, rays, and reef sharks in the deeper channels, along with the turtles that graze on the coral. Dive schools around the island, many based at Nungwi and in Stone Town, run courses for complete beginners as well, so you can earn your first certification over a few days. The water stays warm all year, visibility is usually strong, and the reef life is dense enough to keep experienced divers happy across many trips. Book with a school that shows current safety paperwork and well kept equipment, and be honest about your logged experience so the guide can pick the right site.
12. Kizimkazi Dolphin Tour
Down on the southern coast, the fishing village of Kizimkazi is the base for dolphin trips. Wild bottlenose and humpback dolphins live in these waters, and small boats head out early in the morning to find them. When a pod appears, the guide positions the boat so swimmers can slip into the water with mask and fins for a chance to see the animals move past below. Sightings are common but never guaranteed, since these are wild animals following their own routes. To keep the experience fair to the dolphins, choose an operator that keeps a respectful distance and does not chase or crowd the pods. Many trips add a snorkel stop on a nearby reef and a look at the ancient Kizimkazi mosque, one of the oldest Islamic buildings in East Africa, before returning to shore.
13. Paje Kitesurfing Lesson
The east coast village of Paje is one of the best kitesurfing spots in the world, thanks to a steady side onshore wind, a wide flat lagoon, and shallow water that makes learning safe. Two wind seasons draw riders here, one running from roughly mid December into February and the other from May through October, when the breeze is reliable most afternoons. Several kite schools line the beach, offering lessons for total beginners as well as board and kite rental for those who already ride. A beginner course over a few days gets most people up and riding across the water. Even if you never touch a kite, Paje is a fine place to watch dozens of bright canopies pull riders across the lagoon while you sit at a beach cafe with a fresh juice.
14. The Rock Restaurant Lunch
The Rock is a small restaurant perched on a lump of coral stone that stands alone in the sea off Michamvi, on the southeast coast. At low tide you can walk out to it across the sand, and at high tide a little boat ferries you the short distance. The menu leans on seafood, with lobster, prawns, and the day’s fresh catch served at tables that look straight out over the water. Reservations are needed, and lunch bookings around early afternoon are the most sought after, so plan ahead rather than turning up on the day. The food is good, but the setting is the real reason people come, and it makes for a memorable meal on a beach holiday. Pair it with a morning at Paje or Kuza Cave, since all three sit close together on the same coast.
15. Kuza Cave Swim
Near Jambiani on the southeast coast, Kuza Cave is a natural limestone sinkhole filled with clear turquoise freshwater. Steps lead down into the cool cave, where you can swim in water that stays refreshing on the hottest days, a welcome change from the salt of the sea. The site doubles as a small cultural centre run by the local community, teaching visitors about Swahili traditions, drumming, cooking, and language. The freshwater pool has been used by island people for generations, and the walls of the cave hold old markings. It is an easy, low cost stop that fits neatly between a beach morning and a lunch at The Rock. Bring a towel and water shoes, since the stone steps can be slick, and be ready for the still, echoing quiet inside the cave.
16. Seaweed Farming Tour at Jambiani
Seaweed farming is the second largest industry on Zanzibar, and along the southeast shore whole villages work the shallow tidal flats. On a seaweed tour, usually around Jambiani or Paje, local women guide you out onto the flats at low tide to show how they tie seedlings to lines staked in the sand, tend the crop, and harvest it once it has grown. The work is done almost entirely by women, and the income supports many families across the island. Some tours continue to a workshop where the dried seaweed is turned into soaps, oils, and skin products that you can buy on the spot. It is a grounded, honest look at daily island life away from the resorts, and your visit puts money directly into the community that farms these waters.
17. Mangapwani Slave Cave Visit
North of Stone Town on the west coast, the Mangapwani caves carry a heavy history. One is a natural coral cavern with a freshwater pool, but the more sobering site nearby is a stone chamber cut into the ground that was used to hide enslaved people after the slave trade had been outlawed but was still carried on in secret. A guide explains how captives were held here in darkness before being smuggled onto ships. It is a quiet, difficult place, and it gives real weight to the history that the Stone Town slave market only begins to tell. The visit often pairs with a stop at the coral cave, where the pool once supplied water to the estate above. Combine it with a swim at the nearby beach to balance a serious morning with a lighter afternoon.
18. Forodhani Night Market Food Walk
Every evening the Forodhani Gardens on the Stone Town waterfront fill with food stalls and the smoke of charcoal grills. Vendors lay out platters of grilled fish, octopus, prawns, and lobster, along with skewers of meat, samosas, and the local favourite known as Zanzibar pizza, a thin folded pancake stuffed with egg, meat, or fruit. You wander from stall to stall, point at what looks good, and eat standing under the trees as the harbour lights come on. Fresh sugarcane juice pressed through a hand cranked machine, spiced with lime and ginger, is the classic drink to wash it down. Prices are low and the atmosphere is easy and social, with families and travellers mixing along the seafront. Stick to stalls that are busy and cooking to order, and you will eat well for very little.
19. Swimming with Turtles at Nungwi Lagoon
At Nungwi, a natural tidal lagoon holds a colony of green and hawksbill sea turtles at the Baraka Aquarium. The project buys turtles caught in fishing nets, cares for them, and releases many back to the open sea, while the lagoon lets visitors get close to the animals in a natural setting. You can wade or swim in the enclosure, feed the turtles strips of seaweed, and watch them glide through the shallow water. Staff share facts about the different species and the threats they face. It is a good stop for children and for anyone who wants a calm, hands on wildlife experience without a boat trip. The lagoon sits within easy reach of the northern beaches, so it slips neatly into a Nungwi or Kendwa beach day when the tide is high.
20. Cheetah’s Rock Wildlife Visit
Set inland near Nungwi, Cheetah’s Rock is a small rescue centre that cares for animals saved from the illegal trade and from difficult conditions. On a booked visit, a keeper walks a small group around the sanctuary and introduces its residents, which have included a cheetah, lions, a hyena, zebras, tortoises, and various smaller creatures. Because the groups are kept small and the visit is guided from start to finish, you learn a good deal about each animal’s story and the wider problem of wildlife trafficking in the region. The centre runs limited sessions and asks visitors to book well in advance, so this is one to arrange early in your trip. It gives a different flavour from the beach and boat outings and appeals to travellers who care about conservation and animal welfare.
How to Combine These Zanzibar Tours
You will not fit all twenty of these into a single trip unless you stay a long time, so group them by geography. Stone Town, the spice farms, Prison Island, and Nakupenda all sit close together and work as day trips from a base in or near town. Jozani Forest, Kuza Cave, the seaweed farms, The Rock, and Paje line up along the southeast, so a couple of nights on that coast covers them without long drives. The north around Nungwi and Kendwa is the base for Mnemba snorkelling, diving, the turtle lagoon, Cheetah’s Rock, and sunset dhow cruises. A common plan is a few nights in Stone Town for culture and history, then a move to one beach coast for water time.
7-Day Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire & Manyara Safari
14-Day Ultimate Tanzania Safari, North to West
3-Day Family Mikumi National Park Safari
Zanzibar works best when you let the tides set your schedule rather than fighting them. Plan the boat days around low water and the swimming around high water, and the island falls into an easy rhythm.
Best Time for Zanzibar Excursions
Zanzibar is warm all year, but the driest and most reliable months for boat trips and diving fall in the long dry stretch from June to October and again over the shorter dry window around December to February. The long rains around March through May can wash out sea excursions, though prices drop and the island turns green. Kitesurfing at Paje follows the two wind seasons, so check which one matches your dates. Tides shape every water activity, since sandbanks, snorkelling reefs, and even some beaches change completely between low and high water. A good local guide plans each outing around the tide table, so ask your operator to sequence your days rather than booking everything for fixed hours yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do you need in Zanzibar to see the highlights?
Most travellers find that seven to ten days gives a comfortable mix. That lets you spend two or three nights around Stone Town for the cultural sites and nearby island trips, then four to six nights on the beaches, splitting time between the north and the southeast if you want variety. A shorter stay of four or five nights still covers Stone Town, a spice tour, one boat excursion, and a stretch of beach, but you will have to choose between the coasts rather than seeing both.
How much do the main Zanzibar tours cost?
Prices vary with group size and whether you go private, but as a rough guide a Stone Town walking tour runs around USD 20 to 35 per person, a spice farm tour about USD 15 to 30, and Jozani Forest entry with a guide roughly USD 15 to 20. Boat trips cost more: Prison Island with Nakupenda tends to sit around USD 40 to 60, and Safari Blue around USD 60 to 80 including lunch. Mnemba snorkelling and Kizimkazi dolphin trips usually fall between USD 30 and 60. Booking as a group and combining nearby sites on one day brings the per person cost down.
Is Zanzibar safe for tourists?
Zanzibar is generally calm and welcoming, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The usual sense applies: watch your belongings in crowded markets, avoid walking alone on empty beaches after dark, and use registered guides and operators for tours. Zanzibar is a Muslim island, so dress modestly away from the beach, especially in Stone Town and villages, with shoulders and knees covered. Agree prices before you start a taxi ride or a tour, and keep valuables in a hotel safe. Swimming should follow local advice about tides and currents, which can be strong at certain beaches.
What should I pack for these activities?
Bring reef safe sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses, since many of the best trips leave you fully exposed on sandbanks and boats. Water shoes help at rocky spots like Kuza Cave and on reef flats. Pack a light rash guard for long snorkel sessions to protect against sunburn. For Stone Town, village visits, and the spice farm, carry loose clothing that covers shoulders and knees out of respect for local custom. A dry bag keeps phones and cameras safe on boat days, and a refillable water bottle cuts down on plastic in the heat.
Do I need to book tours in advance or on arrival?
Popular fixed capacity experiences such as The Rock restaurant and Cheetah’s Rock should be booked well ahead, since both take limited numbers and fill up. Group boat trips, spice tours, and Stone Town walks can usually be arranged a day or two ahead through your hotel or a local operator, which also lets the guide time everything around the tide. In the busy dry months it is wiser to lock in the headline trips before you arrive, while in quieter months you have more freedom to plan day by day once you are on the island.
Can I do Zanzibar excursions with children?
Yes, many of these activities suit families well. The spice farm tour, the giant tortoises on Prison Island, the turtle lagoon at Nungwi, Kuza Cave, and the Forodhani food market all appeal to children and involve gentle activity. For boat trips and snorkelling, check that the operator provides child sized life jackets and stays close to shore in calm water. Some experiences, such as scuba diving and certain dolphin swims, have age or swimming requirements, so ask about limits when you book. Building in slow beach days between the busier outings keeps younger travellers happy.
