Private Prison Island and Nakupenda Sandbank Trip

Prison Island (Changuu) with your own guide

Prison Island, or Changuu, sits a few kilometres off Stone Town, and your private boat reaches it in roughly twenty to thirty minutes. A prison was built here in 1893 but never used as one; the island served instead as a quarantine station for yellow fever cases, and the colonnaded buildings and the old jetty remain. In 1919 the governor of the Seychelles sent a gift of Aldabra giant tortoises, and their descendants, some well past a hundred years old, are the stars of any Prison Island tour from Stone Town today.

With a private guide you take the island at your own rhythm. Families with small children can linger inside the tortoise sanctuary, feeding leaves and reading the ages painted on the shells, while others walk round to the beach or the old buildings. Most guests spend forty-five minutes to an hour here, but if the tortoises have your children enchanted, nobody is hurrying you to the boat.

Snorkelling and swimming off Prison Island

The reef on the sheltered side of the island is shallow and begins close to the sand, which makes it the easiest place to snorkel near Stone Town. You see parrotfish, butterflyfish, sea urchins and starfish in a couple of metres of water. On a private trip the guide can also take the boat a little along the reef to where the coral is better, something a shared boat on a schedule rarely does.

If someone in your group does not snorkel, the beach and the shade of the trees make a pleasant wait. The best time to visit Prison Island for clear water is the dry months from June to October and from late December to February, and mornings are calmer than afternoons throughout the year, which is why we offer the eight o'clock departure.

Nakupenda sandbank, your own stretch of white sand

Nakupenda, "I love you" in Swahili, is a sandbank that rises from the sea off the west coast of Zanzibar about twenty minutes by boat from Prison Island. There is nothing on it but white sand, shallow turquoise water and whatever umbrella your crew plant for you. It is wide at low tide and narrows as the water rises, so the exact shape changes every day; the guide reads the tide tables and times your arrival to get the best of it.

A Nakupenda sandbank trip is on most lists of things to do in Zanzibar, and on a private boat you can set yourselves up away from the other groups that come and go. Swim, snorkel along the drop-off, walk the length of the bank or just float. Fresh fruit snacks are served on arrival, and in the default option the crew prepare lunch while you enjoy the water. Allow two hours or more here.

Seafood barbecue lunch on the sand

In the default version a seafood barbecue platter is cooked on the sandbank over charcoal: grilled fish, prawns or octopus according to the day's catch, served with rice, salad and tropical fruits. Because the boat is private, lunch is served when you are ready rather than at a fixed hour. If anyone prefers grilled chicken or a vegetarian plate, tell us when booking and the crew bring the right ingredients.

Two options without lunch exist for guests who would rather eat back in Stone Town or at their hotel; they still include the fruit snacks and all the fees. Whichever you choose, there is time for a last swim after eating before the boat turns back towards the old city in the early afternoon.

Stone Town waterfront and the way back

Your boat leaves from the beach in front of the Old Fort and Forodhani Gardens in Stone Town, the UNESCO-listed old city. If you are staying on the north or east coast, our driver brings you here from your hotel; from Nungwi or Paje the road takes about an hour to an hour and a quarter. Guests staying in Stone Town can choose the Stone Town pickup options.

The private trip is around six hours from pickup to drop-off, with the boat back at the waterfront in the early afternoon. Many guests ask our driver to stop in Stone Town on the way back for an hour in the alleys or a sunset at the harbour; just mention it when booking and we arrange the timing.