Overview

Chumbe Island Coral Park is a rare example of a still pristine coral island ecosystem. A truly romantic and unique place, since there are only seven bungalows, the island never gets crowded, even when fully booked - it's what Robinson Crusoe could only have dreamt about!

Location

Chumbe Island Coral Park is a small coral marine park located south-west of Stone Town, a few kilometres offshore from Zanzibar. With access restricted to 14 people, the boat to Chumbe leaves in the morning from Mbweni Ruins Hotel and takes about half an hour to get to the island.

Accommodation and facilities

Being a Marine Protected Area (MPA) the focal aim of the Chumbe Island Coral Park Project is to preserve Chumbe Island's exceptional environment. Therefore, they have built accommodation based on the state-of-the-art of eco-architecture and eco-technology. The eco-bungalows provide both privacy and a sense of freedom of living in the open. Many guests find these bungalows exceptionally romantic, but any individual with a passion for natural beauty will find them captivating beyond measure. All bungalows overlook the sea and it takes just 30 seconds to stroll from the comforts of the bungalow hammock to feeling the warm tropical ocean.

Lots of activities await visitors of Chumbe Island. The whole of Chumbe Island is a nature reserve and guests are free to explore its beauties either under the competent guidance of park rangers or at their leisure - when the tide is very low it's possible to walk all the way around the island, exploring the rock pools where juvenile fish and a myriad of crabs, shellfishes, starfishes, oysters and other invertebrates exist in the ever-changing environment of the intertidal. Guests can also snorkel in the unique shallow water Reef Sanctuary, explore the Forest Reserve and historical monuments, take an excursion out scuba diving the nearby reefs, or perhaps just lazing about, taking in the breathtaking view of the turquoise seas between Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, still plied by dhows unchanged for a thousand years.

True ecotourism

Chumbe Island is globally recognised as one of the leading examples of true ecotourism to be found anywhere in the world. As well as being recently voted the “Most Romantic” Eco Lodge in the Harpers & Queen November 2003 Travel Guide, it has been acclaimed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science as "one of the most spectacular coral gardens" anywhere in the world; World Winner 2001 Ecotourism Destination Award of the Conde Nast Traveler Magazine; Green Hotelier of the Year 2001 Independent Environmental Award from the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA); and Winner of the 1999 British Airways Tourism - Southern Regional and Global Awards.