Where
The northern tip, 2 km south of Nungwi
Getting there
1 h 15 to 1 h 30 by taxi, $40 to $60
Tidal range
1 to 1.5 m, the same as Nungwi
Swimming
Any hour of the day
Feel
Calm by day, loud once a month
Suits
Couples, and anyone who found Nungwi too busy
Where to stay at Kendwa
Photo: Expedia GroupZuri Zanzibar
Kendwa, north west coast
9.4136 Hotels.com reviews
56 bungalows, suites and villas in a sloping garden above a 300 metre beach you can swim from at any tide.
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Photo: Hotels.comGold Zanzibar Beach House & Spa
Kendwa
72 rooms on the same beach around a large lagoon pool. Sold half board or all inclusive, and a Gourmet plan adds the à la carte restaurant and premium spirits.
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Photo: Expedia GroupElewana Kilindi Zanzibar
Kendwa
9.423 Hotels.com reviews
Fifteen pavilions, each with its own plunge pool, all inclusive and adults only. The choice if Zuri feels too big.
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Photo: Hotels.comKendwa Rocks Beach Hotel
Kendwa
Bungalows right on the sand, and the home of the full moon party. Loud one night a month, simple and cheap the rest of it.
See prices for my datesHotels.com ratings recorded in November 2026. Partner links to Hotels.com: prices and availability depend on your dates, and we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Boat trips and tours from Kendwa Beach
The Mnemba boat leaves from Kendwa, and the sunset dhow and the quad ride include hotel pickup, so there is no second transfer to pay.
Mnemba boat trip from Kendwa. Kendwa Beach is where the Mnemba boat leaves for the atoll, which makes it the shortest crossing from the north west. Expect snorkelling and possibly dolphins on the way.
Sunset dhow from Nungwi and Kendwa. Kendwa is known for its sunsets, and this dhow sail leaves from the north coast with free pickup. The boats are small, so book a few days ahead in high season.
Quad biking from Kendwa or Nungwi. Between sunset sails and swims, quad biking from Kendwa is the loud option. Transport from Kendwa is free, up to two can ride one bike, and reviews are among the best on this coast.
Sunset dhow from Nungwi. A sunset cruise leaving from Nungwi, with pickup. An easy second option if the Kendwa boats are full.
From Kendwa: Mnemba Boat Trip and Dolphin Snorkel Adventure
- 4 hours
- Free cancellation
4.7(1,495 reviews)
from$55per person
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Sunset Dhow Cruise in Nungwi & Kendwa free pick up
- 2.5 to 3 hours
- Hotel pickup included
- Free cancellation
3.9(380 reviews)
from$19per person
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Quad Biking Adventure in Zanzibar from Kendwa or Nungwi (Free Transport)
- 4 hours to 1 day
- Hotel pickup included
- Free cancellation
4.9(1,840 reviews)
from$81per group
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From Nungwi: Sunset Dhow Cruises
- 3 hours
- Hotel pickup included
- Free cancellation
4.7(23 reviews)
from$15per person
Check prices & availabilityAll activities in Kendwa
Kendwa in four lines
- Tide, about a metre. The northern tip barely moves. You can swim at any hour of any day, which is the whole reason to be here.
- The widest sand in Zanzibar. Noticeably broader and whiter than Nungwi, two kilometres north.
- Quiet for twenty six nights a month. And emphatically not for the other two, when the full moon party runs until dawn.
- $70 to $500 a night. The northern tip charges for the swimming, and high season roughly doubles it. What the upper half of that range buys is set out in the top end of the island, and the best known resort on this beach, which sits above that range, has its own Zuri Zanzibar review, as does its smaller adults only neighbour in our Kilindi Zanzibar review. The big family resort of the beach is covered in our Gold Zanzibar review.
What the full moon party actually is
Once a month, Kendwa Rocks hosts a beach party that has been running since long before Instagram found it. It draws people from across the island and a fair number from the mainland, and it goes until dawn.
For one night the beach is not quiet. If that is what you came for it is genuinely good, and if it is not, the dates are published well in advance and the rest of the month is unaffected.
The rest of Kendwa's evenings are beach bars and dinner. It is not a nightlife coast in the way Nungwi is. Price, the prepaid card and getting home afterwards are on the Zanzibar nightlife page.
Why the sand is wider here
Kendwa faces slightly more west than Nungwi does, sheltered by the point, and the sand accumulates rather than being scoured away.
The practical effect is a beach you can walk along for a kilometre at any tide, with room between the sunbeds. On a coast where space is the scarce thing, that is most of the appeal.
Where to eat, and the walk to Nungwi
Kendwa has perhaps a dozen places to eat and most of them belong to hotels. That is the honest limitation of staying here: you will eat where you sleep more often than you would in Nungwi.
What the hotels do well is grilled fish, because the boats land it two hundred metres away. What they do less well is variety, and by night four the menus start to repeat.
The fix is the walk. At low tide you can go along the sand to Nungwi in about twenty minutes, which opens up thirty more restaurants and the only real choice on the northern tip. Coming back after dark, take a taxi rather than the beach, which costs three or four dollars and removes the one genuine risk on this coast.
Getting here, and getting out
An hour and a quarter to an hour and a half from the airport, forty to sixty dollars for the vehicle. There is no shortcut and the last twenty minutes are the slowest, through villages with speed bumps every few hundred metres.
Once here, most people stop moving. Kendwa is a beach and a strip of hotels, and the things to do from it are boat trips that pick you up. Stone Town is ninety minutes away, which makes it a full day rather than an afternoon.
For anything on the east coast, budget two hours each way. This is the practical argument for splitting a longer stay between the two coasts rather than driving across the island twice.
What the beach is like through the day
Mornings are the best of it. The sand is raked, the light is soft and there is almost nobody out before eight.
By eleven the sunbeds are taken and the boat sellers are working the beach. It is not aggressive, and a clear no ends it, but it is constant between about ten and four.
Late afternoon empties out again, and the last two hours before sunset are why people book the north coast. The sun goes down over open water and the whole beach turns out for it.
Kendwa compared with Nungwi
Two kilometres apart, the same tidal range, and a genuinely different week. This is the only comparison that matters once you have chosen the north.
| Kendwa | Nungwi | |
|---|---|---|
| The beach | Wider, whiter, and noticeably emptier | Long and curving, hotels the whole way, busy by nine |
| Eating out | Mostly your hotel, plus a handful of others | Dozens of places, most of them not hotels |
| After dark | Quiet, except the monthly full moon party | Bars and music every night of the week |
| Boats and diving | Fewer, and most drive you to Nungwi | Every dive centre and every trip leaves from here |
| Suits | Couples, and anyone who wants the tide without the noise | First trips, families, anyone who wants options on foot |
They are ten minutes apart by taxi, so you can sleep at one and eat at the other. Read the Nungwi guide alongside this one, and north versus east if the coast is still undecided.
Should you stay at Kendwa
Stay here if
- You want Nungwi's swimming without Nungwi's crowd
- The widest stretch of sand in the north appeals
- You will be here for the full moon party, or can avoid it
- Sunset drinks on the sand is the evening plan
Stay elsewhere if
- You want restaurants and shops on foot, which Nungwi has more of
- Your dates land on the full moon and you came for quiet
- You kitesurf, because the wind is on the other coast
- You want village life rather than beach frontage
Questions people ask about Kendwa beach
Can you swim at Kendwa at low tide?
Yes. Kendwa shares the northern tip's small tidal range, about a metre, and there is swimmable water at every state of the tide. It is one of only a handful of beaches on the island where that is true.
Is Kendwa better than Nungwi?
Quieter, wider and with fewer touts, but with less to walk to. Couples generally prefer Kendwa. Anyone who wants a choice of restaurants and a bit of life after dark generally prefers Nungwi. They are twenty minutes apart on foot along the sand at low tide.
When is the full moon party at Kendwa?
Monthly, at Kendwa Rocks, on or near the full moon. Dates are published ahead. If you want it, book that week early. If you do not, book any other week.
