Pemba Island — set off Zanzibar and lapped by the sparkling waters of the Indian Ocean is a position of true barefoot extravagance that doesn’t disillusion. This rich tropical getaway is very unfamiliar and absolutely a calmer choice contrasted with its outstanding neighbor, Zanzibar.
Funzi and Fundo beaches on the island are known for their pristine surroundings with white sand. The tropical slopes and timber-lands inland on Pemba are likewise essential and reminiscent of any castaway symbolism you can bring to mind.
Pemba is encompassed by stunning lagoons(Fundu Lagoon being is one of the island’s ideal) and striking coral reefs, which are home to countless ocean life, including some bigger occupants, for example, shark, and every so often whales.
If you are an avid diver then, Pemba is the place for you with the waters encompassing the island holding probably the best plunge spots in Tanzania. While snorkelling is another water-based interest to appreciate, plunging is the most ideal approach to discover the Pemba Channel, which is known to drop to profundities of 2000m.
Unlike its southern sister, Pemba has remained virtually unknown to hordes of beach-bound tourists, and just a couple of distinct luxury lodges have opened up on its rural shores.
Pemba Island lies a full 40km north of the ‘main’ island of Zanzibar, (Unguja). Pemba is not much smaller, but feels much more rural and characteristically very distinct.
Unlike its southern sister, Pemba has remained virtually unknown to hordes of beach-bound tourists, and just a couple of distinct luxury lodges have opened up on its rural shores. The island is best known by those who come to explore it’s coral reefs; the extreme depths of the Pemba Channel and thriving marine life make this region a diver’s paradise.
The Pemba Channel shelves off to depths of more than 2000m between the island and mainland Tanzania, and Pemba is famous for seriously large sea fish, which include barracuda, tuna, shark, and even whales cruising its perimeters.
It is a glorious playground for experienced divers. The waters around Pemba provide some of the most fantastic wall dives and drift dives, fine soft and hard coral formations and open water diving opportunities that this East African coastline has to offer.
Surrounded by pure turquoise waters, set out to take a barefoot stroll on the soft, powdery sands of Pemba Island where the soft breezes of the Indian Ocean caress you, allowing you absorb the tranquility of this private isle amidst rustling of swaying screw pines, giant-leaved fig trees, wild rubber figs, whistling pines and the many more that cover the island in a cover of lush greenery. BookmySafary.com guests can reach the island by taking a 15-minute boat ride from the northeast end of Zanzibar Island at Matemwe Beach. Surrounded by more than 10 miles of stunning reefs that create a sheltered lagoon, Pemba is a veritable paradise on earth that hosts a number of birds and smaller terrestrial fauna but no snakes or scorpions that might mar the pleasure of your castaway beach tour in Africa. Explore the white beach strip at high tide and you will see many wading birds like curlew sandpipers, ruddy turnstones, sanderlings and the lesser and Mongolian sand plover. Watch as they join other birds like crab plovers in feasting on sea lice, sand shrimps and other invertebrates on the sandbars by the seashore. You will be amazed to know that many of these wading birds have migrated to Africa from the Arctic Tundra biome. Pemba Island Lodge is the only lodging on the isle.
Explore the miniature forest while beach holidaying here, and you will spot delightful creatures like the rare Zanzibar suni antelope while white forest vagrant butterflies flit among the bushes. Your guide will inform you that the whistling pines you see are not endemic to the island, but their dune stabilizing properties have probably contributed to protecting the island from erosion by the ocean. But your dream trip to Pemba Island has more in store for you. You still have to discover the underwater world hidden below crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean on a diving and snorkeling trip to its atoll. The filter-feeding oceanic coral forms a complete eco-system that supports a number of colorful sea creatures, their shapes and forms creating a wondrous, unique environ. Look for moorish idols, long-horned cowfish, semicircle angelfish, hawksbill turtles, powder blue surgeonfish, green turtles, vagabond butterflyfish, manta rays, starfish, anemones, crabs and scores more. You could swim with the striped dolphins and view massive whale sharks alongside rays. In the deep seas outside the marine park, try your hand at fishing for barracuda, sailfish, swordfish, yellowfin tuna and marlins, and enjoy tagging and releasing them back into the ocean. Or simply lie on the pristine, white sands and let the warm rays of the tropical sun wash over you as you take long languorous siestas at on sun loungers. These are only some of the allure that you will experience on your BookmySafary.com beach vacation in Tanzania.
