Nungwi Beach
Nungwi Beach
4.5
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Nungwi Beach
Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
82 within 3 miles
Attractions
13 within 6 miles
See what travellers are saying
- Victoria NguyenHouston, Texas674 contributionsMiss UniverseI'm not a beach type of person, because I do not like to get sunburn. I came to Zanzibar on a tour. My tour guide booked the hotel for me to stay at Nungwi Beach for four days. So I decided to put on my swimsuit bikini and swam an hour at this beach for fun. The beach was so beautiful. The water was so clear and warm.Visited February 2024Travelled soloWritten 3 March 2024
- BourkejulieBerlin, Germany7 contributionsCrystal Beach, Nungwi - a wonderful place to chill!We spent three days (17 to 20 March) in Nungwi. While we were there, the rainy season started and gave a bit of relief to the hot, sticky, humid weather. We stayed at the Crystal Beach Hotel at the most northerly point of Zanzibar. It was a great place to stay, beautiful views, spotlessly clean, really helpful, welcoming hosts and great food in the little restaurant directly on the beach. We will return some day ….Visited March 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 23 March 2024
- Safe Adventures and ExpeditionsNairobi, Kenya48 contributionsNungwi, Zanzibar, TanzaniaScenery: Pristine white sands, turquoise waters, and swaying palm trees create a serene atmosphere. Activities: Swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling, and diving opportunities abound. Atmosphere: Peaceful and welcoming ambiance, perfect for relaxation or socializing. Services: Nearby village offers markets, seafood restaurants, and cultural experiences. Personal Experience: Enchanted by Nungwi's beauty and tranquility with each visit. Recommendation: Highly recommend Nungwi Beach for a rejuvenating escape in Zanzibar.Visited February 2024Travelled on businessWritten 9 April 2024
- EVA122014Italy20,961 contributionsBeautiful, although it depends a lot on the period in which you visit it and the area....Nungwi is known to be one of the best known and most touristic places in Zanzibar, visited several times in different months of the year, obviously if you visit in the high season you will find it crowded with tourists and consequently full of beach boys, sellers, Masai etc etc which can often become annoying... but if you visit there in low season periods like I did (the month of December before the holidays) or at the beginning of April (the period of heavy rain begins in mid-April, plus this Ramadan coincided in the year), you will discover an unusual Nungwi, few tourists, semi-deserted beaches, postcard sea, very few sellers and BB... Very quiet village, nice shops that you can wander around in peace…. Turquoise sea, fine sandy beach, very little seaweed... even with some clouds or short rains (the weather is lucky) Nungwi absolutely Yes, but it depends when!!!!.Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 20 April 2024
- Aruna GunawardenaColombo, Sri Lanka5,677 contributionsFantastic Beach Area. Not Many WavesOne of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see. Clear water & lovely for swimming. A few k.m. away you can swim with the dolphins. Our 11 year old daughter enjoyed it. Also nearby is good for snorkelingVisited May 2024Travelled with familyWritten 29 May 2024
- Humphrey MChester, United Kingdom123 contributionsOne of my favourite beaches everOn my recent visit to Nungwi Beach in Tanzania, I was struck by the sheer cleanliness of the place. It made every moment spent there truly enjoyable. The beach offered a variety of tours and activities — we snorkelled and sailed into the sunset, enjoying the numerous choices available to us. Day or night, the beach felt clean and secure, a real highlight for me. If you're looking for an easy-going and pleasant time at a Tanzanian beach, Nungwi should be at the top of your list. I'm definitely going back. Bringing my drone along for filming and taking pictures was a fine and didn't get bothered by anyone.Visited October 2023Travelled with friendsWritten 2 July 2024
- Pratyush M128 contributionsOne of the most beautiful beachesNungwi beach is simply wow. Loved every moment that we spent at nungwi beach. There are some good eating places on the beach as well as near by. MJ cafe is one of the affordable ones.Visited June 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 3 July 2024
- Minal CWraysbury, United Kingdom59 contributionsParadiseJust got back from 5 days at Ningwi beach and it is paradise! I would just sit at the beach resort and stare out at the sfot white sand and the beautiful Indian Ocean. If you ever want a pradise location, Nungwi beach is by far one of the best in the world!Visited July 2024Travelled with familyWritten 30 July 2024
- Rick Schouten62 contributionsMost beautiful beach in Zanzibar!Very nice stretch of beach. Especially from RIU Jambo aims Kendwa is beautiful. Several vendors walk on the beach, but if you are friendly to them, they are absolutely not troublesome. Many are dressed like Masai and walk a bit themselves. Furthermore as shown in the pictures, white beaches and blue sea.Visited August 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 30 July 2024
- Beatrice CFlorence, Italy20 contributionsDon't miss it!Beautiful beach and quiet ocean, tides do not prevent swimming and sports activities. In August, stormed by street vendors of trips and souvenirs, but no one cares about the plastic bottles around. Resorts have a fenced-in bathing area, rather narrow compared to that left to jet skis and boats that shoot music at sunset. An insult to so much beauty!!!Visited August 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 15 August 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
2,807 reviews
Excellent
1,785
Very good
688
Average
205
Poor
76
Terrible
54
These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
This service may contain translations provided by Google. Google disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to translations, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from forgery.
Zahra Zain
Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia15 contributions
Jan 2023 • Family
Nungwi beach is the most popular,beautiful and the major beach holiday in zanzibar . beautiful white sand,crystal blue waters and you can swim anytime of the day.nungwi beach offers various restaurants and beach bars ,there is alot to do in nungwi beach .the beach Infront of z hotel is very stunning ,amazing sunsets in zhotel rooftop bar.many locals playing volleyball and beach soccer during sunset time which makes the beach look more pretty .it was very easy for us to book all our escurtions with babli in whatsaap +255756983368
We had the pleasure using bablis service.we highly recommend his service
We had the pleasure using bablis service.we highly recommend his service
Written 5 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alessandra D
Province of Verona, Italy14 contributions
Nov 2024 • Couples
There are no words to describe the beauty of this place! Absolutely the most beautiful beach in Zanzibar, with its incredible colors, the rocks that shade and give an idea of the difference between high and low tide (a phenomenon that is little present compared to other places in Zanzibar).
If you are looking for a varied, large, free, safe, natural beach, then Nungwi is ideal. Around 5pm the beach fills up with inhabitants who animate it in an incredibly beautiful way. A little further on, the other beautiful beach of Kendwa in my opinion, is more suitable for the many resorts present and therefore less in my ropes.
The beach boys and the Maasai are many, it's up to us tourists to understand that they are just doing their job, however just thank and refuse that you will be told "Hakuna matata" and these beautiful people will still make you smile big!
If you are looking for a varied, large, free, safe, natural beach, then Nungwi is ideal. Around 5pm the beach fills up with inhabitants who animate it in an incredibly beautiful way. A little further on, the other beautiful beach of Kendwa in my opinion, is more suitable for the many resorts present and therefore less in my ropes.
The beach boys and the Maasai are many, it's up to us tourists to understand that they are just doing their job, however just thank and refuse that you will be told "Hakuna matata" and these beautiful people will still make you smile big!
Automatically translated
Written 7 December 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Giles H
1 contribution
Jan 2023
So Nungwi is a very popular beach with many people looking for your attention to buy an experience or sell you something and it's hard to know who is not ripping you off or being unsafe.
Finding out the prices on here is best then if you want someone to arrange the whole thing safely and extremely efficiently I can recommend a local fixer/driver who made the whole experience effortless. He just asks for 10% for his time and he sort anything from Ferry tickets to the spice tours. Speaks great English and is a honest human being. He seems to know everyone and so everything goes without a hitch. Generally he waits till you want to return to hotel. Using WhatsApp he will respond almost immediately
Suleman 🚕
+255 777 000 015
Finding out the prices on here is best then if you want someone to arrange the whole thing safely and extremely efficiently I can recommend a local fixer/driver who made the whole experience effortless. He just asks for 10% for his time and he sort anything from Ferry tickets to the spice tours. Speaks great English and is a honest human being. He seems to know everyone and so everything goes without a hitch. Generally he waits till you want to return to hotel. Using WhatsApp he will respond almost immediately
Suleman 🚕
+255 777 000 015
Written 4 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GrandTour65514251552
1 contribution
Feb 2025 • Couples
The beach was amazing. The water was clear and the sand was soft and clean. However there was too many boats around that come very close to you when you are swimming in the ocean and they don’t care if they’re going to hit you!! Too many locals coming up to you asking you the same thing about buying something over and over again. Almost every 5 mins someone has to come over and offer something that is ridiculously over priced and they’ll never give up after telling them “no” or “not interested”. I was there for 4 days and had enough from the second day. I understand everyone has to making a living however if not interested then I’m not interested. It’s ridiculously over priced and not worth the hype the make it seem. My whole experience in Zanzibar was horrible, the way they try to scam us foreigners is beyond me and disgusting.
Written 3 February 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carla N
Hampton, UK12 contributions
Jan 2025 • Family
The part of the beach we were on (Riu Palace) was beautiful, clean and well managed. Beautiful sunsets.
I always spend most my time on the beach when on holiday but sadly I didn’t here due to harassment of the beach boys. Whilst on the hotel section of the beach they are not allowed to approach you but as soon as you want to go for a walk that’s it!
On holiday my favourite thing to do is walk along the beach first thing in the morning before breakfast but I felt I could not do this on my own or with anyone really! It most definitely took away the switching off and relaxed mindset I try to get into on holiday. Luckily we overlooked the sea from the hotel .
It was the only part of our stay in Zanzibar that would put me off going back.
I always spend most my time on the beach when on holiday but sadly I didn’t here due to harassment of the beach boys. Whilst on the hotel section of the beach they are not allowed to approach you but as soon as you want to go for a walk that’s it!
On holiday my favourite thing to do is walk along the beach first thing in the morning before breakfast but I felt I could not do this on my own or with anyone really! It most definitely took away the switching off and relaxed mindset I try to get into on holiday. Luckily we overlooked the sea from the hotel .
It was the only part of our stay in Zanzibar that would put me off going back.
Written 10 February 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fortune_Madhuku
Harare Province, Zimbabwe625 contributions
Aug 2023
This is the most beautiful beach on Zanzibar island, with its fine white sand and turquoise blue water. When the tide is low, the stretch from Nungwi to Kendwa becomes one beach and you can see a multitude of tourists enjoying a dip in the sea, sunbathing or walking along the sandy shores. There are plenty of nice restaurants and local shops, so you can be on the beach for the whole day if you want. I ended my day with a sundowner cruise on a big dhow boat and enjoyed the performance of awesome local musicians who played drums and sang Swahili songs. I liked the welcome song, 'Hakuna matata'. Indeed, hakuna matata in Zanzibar!
Written 24 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daydream06785767500
2 contributions
Oct 2024 • Couples
We do not recommend staying in Nungwi, it is full of bossy Beach Boys and who constantly greet you and seek confidence, but not because they are kind.... simply because they try to pluck you. We never got to take a simple walk. Kendwa Beach much more controlled and the beach boys can not approach the Resorts. Here we recommend staying in Kendwa.
Nungwi beach full of seaweed in my opinion not bathing. Neglected village, plastic everywhere, I think here Tourism will end soon. Those who come never come back.
Exactly to never again
Nungwi beach full of seaweed in my opinion not bathing. Neglected village, plastic everywhere, I think here Tourism will end soon. Those who come never come back.
Exactly to never again
Automatically translated
Written 8 October 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
fehne09
Dubai, United Arab Emirates39 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
Nungwi Beach is a beautiful long stretch of white sand beach! It looks really idyllic with local fisher boats anchoring off coast and local women collecting seaweed during low tide when the sea draws back by several 100 meters. Hotels and restaurants are lining the beach, but it's accessible to the public and anyone can enjoy it.
BUT you cannot take 5 steps out of the hotel ground or even go near the hotel bounderies without being hassled by local "beach boys" trying to sell you something (souvenirs, day trips, fishing trip, etc.). You get rid of one, 5 other come to replace him. We tried walking on the beach, but it was impossilbe to enjoy it. Normally, we walk a lot in places we visit. We like to discover the city/village we stay in, go to the local market, try street food but in Nungwi, we didn't do any of it. The pushiness of the vendors led to the opposite of what they wanted to achieve: when not on an organized tour, we stayed in the hotel and had all of our meals and drinks there.
BUT you cannot take 5 steps out of the hotel ground or even go near the hotel bounderies without being hassled by local "beach boys" trying to sell you something (souvenirs, day trips, fishing trip, etc.). You get rid of one, 5 other come to replace him. We tried walking on the beach, but it was impossilbe to enjoy it. Normally, we walk a lot in places we visit. We like to discover the city/village we stay in, go to the local market, try street food but in Nungwi, we didn't do any of it. The pushiness of the vendors led to the opposite of what they wanted to achieve: when not on an organized tour, we stayed in the hotel and had all of our meals and drinks there.
Written 3 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SCP
31 contributions
Jun 2024 • Couples
Nungwi beach is a beautiful beach completely ruined by litter in the roads leading up to it and the constant harassment from numerous beach boys who are always trying to sell you everything under the sun. It is not an enjoyable experience and I would not recommend this beach to anyone. We went to Jambiani a few days later and had a far more enjoyable, peaceful and comfortable experience. There were beach boys but considerably fewer and a lot less pushy towards tourists - I would recommend staying in Paje or Jambiani the whole time.
Written 3 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Burak2405
Konstanz, Germany20 contributions
Feb 2024 • Family
Pushy and disrespectful people (Marsais)
Unfortunately we couldn't relax on the beach because every 5 minutes a salesman stands there trying to sell us something. In itself it's nothing bad, but everyone wants to talk to you for 4-6 minutes before selling you something and if you don't want that they become disrespectful.
My wife and my mom were harassed, when I said enough, please move on, I was told that this is my country and I should go back to Europe.
I've been to many countries and also to countries where there are pushy people, like Turkey, Morocco, Egypt....
but I've NEVER seen anything like this.
There are so many beautiful beaches in the world
like in Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, Maldives....
Zanzibar is not what you know from Instagram
I can only warn you, go somewhere else.
If you've already booked, go to a closed resort.
Unfortunately we couldn't relax on the beach because every 5 minutes a salesman stands there trying to sell us something. In itself it's nothing bad, but everyone wants to talk to you for 4-6 minutes before selling you something and if you don't want that they become disrespectful.
My wife and my mom were harassed, when I said enough, please move on, I was told that this is my country and I should go back to Europe.
I've been to many countries and also to countries where there are pushy people, like Turkey, Morocco, Egypt....
but I've NEVER seen anything like this.
There are so many beautiful beaches in the world
like in Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, Maldives....
Zanzibar is not what you know from Instagram
I can only warn you, go somewhere else.
If you've already booked, go to a closed resort.

Written 11 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello. Only by taxi. I can give a mobile phone to our driver. +255777070499. His name is Abra. We had a great experience. Satisfied!
Written 29 July 2021

Vitovito12
There are many beach boys on Nungwi and Kendwa but they are ok, just politely trying to sell something (my experience). We were offered some trips by a boy called Marco (or Marcus). Anyone has any experience with him? Is it safe to go? Is he reliable?
Written 2 December 2019
I think it's safe to go with any of the boys. But whatever you do, don't go on the the snorkeling tour to mnemba. Its not worth it!!!!
Written 7 December 2019
Alica T
Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic
Ames bungalovs alebo niečo blizsie ku Gold hotelu.
Written 2 November 2019
le temperature del mare e climatiche sono buone tutto l'anno, la differenza é solamente nel periodo fine marzo maggio che c'è più pioggia gennaio e febbraio sono i mesi migliori sia per il sole che per il mare é più limpido e meno mosso.
il mese di ottobre é un buon mese l'unico inconveniente ma, non a Nungwi Beach dove il mare é sempre uguale, é sulla costa est in quanto il mare solitamente é più mosso.
quindi se fai l'escursione a Mnemba che ti consiglio vivamente con la bassa marea (l'isola é privata con un resort molto esclusivo ma con la bassa marea appare un'isolotto di sabbia dove si può scendere liberamente!).
Buona vacanza a proposito se devi ancora prenotare valuta il RUI Palace eccezionale, personalmente a Unguja ho usufruito di molti resort ma a Nungwi non c'è nulla di meglio.
Written 8 October 2019
Se puede llevar todo tipo de bañador. La población es musulmana y cristiana, conviviendo en paz. Además cuidan mucho al turista porque es gran fuente de trabajo para ellos.
hace 0 segundos
Written 7 August 2019
Ormai siamo ad agosto...mi sa che la domanda è arrivata tardi..io ti consiglio di pensare al prossimo inverno...febbraio è splendido
Written 7 August 2019
Ciao a tutti, volevo chiedere se nel mese di agosto ci sono zanzare? E che è stato in questo mese che tempo si trova e temperature. Ovviamente il tempo cambia ogni anno non si può pretendere di saperlo ......grazie Silvia
Written 27 July 2019
Ciao, allora zanzare ci sono ma sinceramente non pungevano erano strane....tu portati un repellente,il tempo purtroppo non è stato dei migliori nuvole pioggia spesso poi tornava il sole, la sera freschino portati una felpa o giubbino. Magari quando andrai tu sarà più caldo visto che si va incontro alla bella stagione li....portati qualcosa per dissenteria e vomito purtroppo girano batteri.
Written 22 August 2019
Salve, io e la mia ragazza andremo in vacanza a nungwi e kedwa a gennaio, amiamo goderci il relax stando sui lettini.conviene stare in resort che li danno o lungo la spiaggia si possono trovare a prezzi ragionevoli.a watamu pagavamo 5 dollari per due lettini.sapete a zanzibar quanto costa il noleggio???vi ringrazio anticipatamente
Written 7 July 2019
Ciao sono stata a Zanzibar a marzo ed abbiamo fatto da sud a nord Ci siamo appoggiati a strutture non i mega villaggi che non sopporto ma piccoli resort che ti forniscono anche lettini
Per muoversi abbiamo usato i ragazzi del posto che di solito ogni resort ha il suo fidatissimo
Ti consiglio di visitare l'isola che è splendida ed ogni posto ha una diversa identità
Fammi sapere
Written 9 July 2019
Bonjour , nous hésitons pour notre séjour ; certains commentaires disent du mauvais de ce secteur , vendeurs à la sauvette sur les plages etc.... Quels sont les meilleurs hôtels dans ce secteur de Nungwi ? meilleurs hôtel ? Nous pensions au Hilton . Merci pour votre réponse .
Très cordialement . Marc
Written 31 March 2019
Bonjour
Nous avons passé une semaine magnifique à cet hôtel et sur la plage. Ils y a quelques vendeurs mais très polis et pas du tout gênant.
Bonnes vacances
Jean Luc
Written 7 April 2019
…
Showing results 1-10 of 42
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing