About Zanzibar

Zanzibar is located in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Tanzania. It belongs to the Republic of Tanzania and is a part of the group of islands known as the Spice Islands. The largest city on Zanzibar is Stone Town, where the airport and port are located. Stone Town is an interesting place to spend a couple of days before or after relaxing on the beaches of the east coast, swimming, scuba diving or snorkellin. Shoes for swimming are advisable due to the large number of sea-urchins. The beaches on the east coast of Zanzibar are extremely tidal, and as such swimming at low-tide may require walking out 400 metres or more to reach the water at low-tide. There are several dive operators on Zanzibar for those interested in scuba diving. At Matemwe Beach the diving is operated by One Ocean, a PADI five-star centre recommended by Lonely Planet. In order to avoid disappointment you can contact One Ocean directly to pre-book dives. All dive courses must be pre-booked. Contact Gary Greig: oneocean@zanlink.com A number of tour operators on Zanzibar which arrange a variety of day trips including boat trips, snorkelling trips, spice tours and tours to Jozani Forest to view the rare red colobus monkey. One such tour operator is ZanTours. www.zantours.com. They also offer transfers between the airport/ferry terminal and hotels, both in Stone Town and on the eastern coast beaches.