Zanzibar holidays pros and cons
After spending 6 and a half weeks in Zanzibar in February and March 2024, I decided to write down a brief article about Zanzibar holidays pros and cons. I’d like to give you an idea what’s good and what’s not so great there. It might help you before you start to plan your holidays to Zanzibar.
In this article I will tell you the most important things you need to know when making your Zanzibar holiday plans.
Keep reading even when you are not going to Zanzibar any time soon. It’s always nice to find out more about other parts of the world, right?
Please bear in mind everything in this article is MY humble opinion based on what I personaly love and dislike. It might differ for you, of course.
To be precise, we all use the name of Zanzibar for the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago which is actually called Unguja.
Zanzibar holidays pros
What’s so cool about the main Tanzanian island?
Zanzibar beaches
Zanzibar has been known for its white sand beaches and turquoise sea. Yes, that is true when talking of some beaches, or at a certain time. Probably the most popular beach is Nungwi in the North which is pretty much the only beach on the entire Zanzibar island that has a very little difference between high tide and low tide. This means that you can always enjoy the sea there and go for a swim even at low tide.
The second beach with the lowest impact of the low tide is Kendwa located to the West from Nungwi.
Other beaches on Zanzibar have a big low tide and high tide which can be an advantage to some of you. You wouldn’t care at all about low tide when doing other activities not directly on the beach.
Warm sea
Zanzibar has the warmest sea I’ve ever experienced. Most of the time it felt really ideal on my skin. Sometimes the sea temperature was just perfect, or even cold when it was too windy and just before/after a storm/rain. But a couple of times, especially in the late afternoon, the sea got so warm it felt warmer than a jacuzzi.
If you like warm sea, now you know where to go on holidays. However, please be careful on very hot sunny days because it happened to me twice that my skin felt like burning once I entered the sea.
Zanzibar beaches to visit – Paje beach low tide
Food
One of the biggest Zanzibar holidays pros to me was its great quality food. Oh my, I could not stop eating fresh exotic fruit. Even the vegetables are delicious there.
I’ve noticed that many restaurants tend to use fresh local produce for their meals (not processed food) and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. It’s not only more tasty but a lot healthier as well. I have to admit that before Zanzibar holidays I was a bit sceptical about getting good vegan food there but I was impressed by both the quality and prices.
Locals
Some locals are really nice, pleasant, smiling and helpful. Yes, there are good people everywhere and I was lucky to meet many beautiful and good-hearted people on Zanzibar. Some of them helped me with transportation, pointing directions and answering the questions I had.
Skies
The skies are incredible in Zanzibar. I’ve seen so many stunning sunrises and sunsets, and even many rainbows, Sun halo a couple of times, and also a Moon halo. Always remember to look up during the day and night.
Nungwi beach sunset
Zanzibar pros – sunsets
Cheap local transportation
Local buses called daladala, motorbike taxis bodaboda and bhajaji tuk tuks are rather cheap. The cheapest are obviously the daladala buses and minivans but don’t expect any luxury; and they tend to be overcrowded.
However, it is possible to get around Zanzibar for very cheap if you choose local transportation and not overpriced white taxis. Bear in mind that Zanzibar is a lot bigger than you might think and that it takes longer to get from one place to another than you could imagine.
Zanzibar holidays cons
Huge low tide
Some beaches have the biggest low tide I’ve ever seen in my life. If you go on Zanzibar holidays to enjoy swimming in the sea, low tide might be a disadvantage for you. On the majority of beaches the water disappears a few hundreds of meters from the beach all the way up to the reef. That means no sea water or just very little maybe up to your ankles or knees for a couple of hours every single day.
Algae on the beach
Yes there were days with just some algae/sea grass/sea weed on the beach but the rest of my time the beaches and sea were full of algae. It made it uncomfortable to swim in the sea and spend time on the beach. Too much algae on the same spot has a stinking smell as well.
Some hotels and restaurants do clean algae on a daily basis but not all and clearly not enough.
Racism
I haven’t visited many African countries yet but I have to say that I’ve never seen such racism from locals towards white people as I noticed on Zanzibar. And it’s a shame.
Many people do not understand that when locals call the tourists/expats ”mzungu” (meaning ”white” in swahili), it is racist. Many of them even say it in such a pejorative way. You know, I do not support any racism, not from white people towards black/other races, and neither from black people towards white.
Treating people based on their skin color is racism.
If we keep pretending it’s ok without explaining it to the locals, they might never change it. I believe there should be no racism in the 21st century any more.
Overcharging tourists
Yes, Zanzibar is rather poor and in a way it makes no sense to me because many hotels and tours are way too expensive. Where does all the money go then?
Anyway, be ready for situations when the locals will try to overcharge you. Not everyone does it, but from my experience the majority do. It can happen when you try to buy something at shops, street stalls, book a tour or even order a motorbike taxi.
As a white tourist you will get charged a couple of times more than the locals do. To me that’s unfair on a human level and thus not something I’d support.
Electricity shortage
Yes, welcome to Africa. Unfortunately, power outage happens more often on Zanzibar than it should. I’ve heard that it got worse in the past year, especially in the Eastern coast of Zanzibar. Sometimes there’s no electricity for a day or even longer.
But it’s true that some hotels and restaurants do have solar panels or generators so you might not even notice there’s no electricity unless you are at the street in the dark.
However, most of the hotels where I stayed were eco-friendly so without generators and that meant no power quiet often. You really go back in time when on Zanzibar.
Slow wifi
Some places have extremely slow wifi connection, or even none. Yes, it might be nice if you go to Zanzibar for a week holidays to relax and you really want to spend it offline just indulging in the moment.
But I need fast wifi for working online and not being able to work properly for almost 7 weeks that I spent on Zanzibar was a nightmare.
Trash
There’s loads of trash on the beach, along the road, around hotels and local houses. It’s very upsetting to see all the rubbish in places that could be so much nicer without it. I wish all people appreciated nature and our habitat a lot more than they do, both locals and tourists.
Zanzibar cons – rubbish on the street
Poverty
Most locals are poor. It was really heart-breaking to me to see so many kids asking for money, wearing very old dirty clothes with holes, or walking in big shoes passed on from their older brothers. And the unfinished houses and many other things…
I didn’t really get the feeling that Zanzibar locals are happy about the way they live. Some might be but overall I didn’t see them happy. Instead, I saw them struggling and trying to do anything to get some money from the white visitors.
Sex tourism
Zanzibar is a very popular destination for sex tourism. If I’m being honest here, I had no idea about it until I visited the island and saw it with my own eyes. And let me tell you, I did not like what I saw. It was too much for me always being bothered by local men thinking I went to Zanzibar for that reason just because they saw me there traveling solo. Not cool!
Generally speaking, there were too many local men disturbing me mostly on the beach but also at the street, or trying to sell me some tours and souvenirs, or wanting something sexual. That made my Zanzibar holidays extremely unpleasant, to be honest.
Zanzibar cons – rubbish on the road
Zanzibar cons – trash on the beach
I hope I gave you some ideas about what you might love on Zanzibar holidays and what you should be aware of. Now it’s on you to decide if you would like to go on holidays to Zanzibar or not.
TIP 1: Is Zanzibar holidays expensive or cheap? Read my detailed post about how much I spent in Zanzibar in 7 weeks here.
TIP 2: Click here if you are looking for Zanzibar tours.
TIP 3: Interested in climbing? Check my post about Mount Kilimanjaro hiking.
