Zan Maldive Tours and Safaris

Area: Michamvi

  • Hotel Transfers

    Zanzibar is bigger than it looks on a map, and the coastal roads vary considerably in quality. Getting from a hotel in Nungwi to a restaurant in Michamvi, or from Stone Town out to Jambiani, is a proper journey rather than a short hop.

    We run point-to-point transfers between any two places on the island: hotel to restaurant, hotel to a dive centre, hotel to a village, hotel to the spice farms. The vehicle is private to your party, the driver speaks English and the price is agreed before you set off.

    For anyone eating at The Rock, taking a sunset cruise from a different coast or heading to an activity outside their area, this is the sensible way to travel. Taxis on the island rarely have fixed pricing and the driver quality is inconsistent.

    Ask us for a return transfer with a wait, or for the driver to stay with you for the day, if that suits your plans better.

  • Michamvi

    Michamvi occupies the peninsula at the northern end of the south-east coast, and its geography gives it something no other beach on this side of the island has. The western shore of the peninsula faces back across the bay, so Michamvi is the only place on the east coast where you watch the sun set over the water.

    It is quiet. There is no strip of bars, no kite scene and very little traffic. The hotels are spread out along the coast and most of the peninsula is village, farmland and coral rag bush.

    Michamvi Pingwe on the eastern side is home to The Rock, the restaurant built on a coral outcrop in the sea and one of the most photographed buildings in East Africa. At low tide you walk out to it across the sand. At high tide a small boat runs you over.

    Michamvi suits couples, honeymooners and anyone who wants a quiet base with a sunset, within half an hour of Paje and Jambiani if you want more activity.

  • The Rock Restaurant Experience

    The Rock sits on a coral outcrop in the Indian Ocean, a short distance off the white sand of Michamvi Pingwe on the south-east coast of Unguja. It is one of the most photographed restaurants in the world, and the setting is genuinely as unusual as the pictures suggest.

    How you reach it depends on the tide. At low tide you walk across the sand and rock from the beach. At high tide a small boat runs you over from the shore, usually at no extra charge, and the building appears to float.

    The kitchen focuses on seafood, and the atmosphere is relaxed and romantic rather than formal. It suits a long lunch, a sunset dinner, an anniversary or a proposal, more than a quick meal.

    We handle the part most visitors find difficult: the table. The restaurant is small and books out well ahead in high season. We reserve for you, arrange return transfers from your hotel anywhere on the island, and time your arrival to the tide.