Best coasts
The northern tip, then Kiwengwa
Budget
$150 to $350 a night for a family room
Kids' clubs
Mostly at Kiwengwa and Nungwi resorts
Best months
June to October, or February
Under 6
Free on most boat trips
The pool
Not a luxury on the east coast
Book a family room
Photo: Expedia GroupRoyal Zanzibar Beach Resort
Nungwi
8.6247 Hotels.com reviews
A large resort ten minutes up the coast at Nungwi, sold with or without all inclusive, with a free kids' club. The family pick if Gold feels too grown up.
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Photo: Hotels.comRiu Palace Zanzibar
Nungwi, north
All inclusive on the northern tip, where the sea stays in all day. Adults only until November 2025 and a family resort since, which many package listings still get wrong. One of the resorts Expedia puts forward on its Zanzibar page.
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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.
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.
Safari Blue and boat trips with children
The full-day Menai Bay trip with the sandbank stop. Check the child price on each listing before you book.
Safari Blue lagoon trip. A full day with a dhow, snorkelling, a sandbank to play on and a seafood lunch, with hotel pickup. Easy to do with children, as long as they can swim or wear a vest.
Safari Blue, second listing. A second Safari Blue listing, from another operator, with snorkelling and lunch. For a family, compare the group size and read recent reviews.
Safari Blue Lagoon Trip with Snorkeling and Lunch
- 7 hours
- Hotel pickup included
- Free cancellation
4.6(682 reviews)
from$90per person
Check prices & availability
From Zanzibar: Safari Blue Snorkeling Trip with Lunch
- 6 to 8 hours
- Hotel pickup included
- Free cancellation
3.9(41 reviews)
from$36per person
Check prices & availabilityAll activities in Zanzibar
With children, in four lines
- The northern tip, and it is not close. Children do not consult a tide table. Nungwi and Kendwa are the only stretch where the sea is there all day.
- Or a resort with a serious pool. Kiwengwa works for the opposite reason: the hotel is built around the four hours the lagoon is gone.
- Family rooms are rare. Most hotels here sell two doubles rather than a family room, which changes the arithmetic sharply.
- Malaria risk is low but not zero. Talk to a travel clinic about children before you go, not after you have booked.
Which coast works with children
The tide is the whole question. Everything else is a preference.
| Where | Swimming | Verdict with children |
|---|---|---|
| Nungwi and Kendwa | All day, every day | The default answer. Busy, dearer, and no tide table to manage. |
| Kiwengwa | Around high water | Works if the resort has a real pool and a kids' club, and badly if not. |
| Pongwe | Most of the day | A small quiet bay that holds its water. Few hotels, and little for older children. |
| Matemwe | Around high water | Beautiful and quiet, and long empty afternoons for a seven year old. |
| Paje and Jambiani | Around high water | Wrong for small children, and good for teenagers who want to learn to kite. |
| Stone Town | No swimming | Two nights at the start. Not a week. |
Where each of those is and how long the transfer takes is in the beaches guide.
Why the north wins for families
Nungwi and Kendwa have a tidal range of about a metre, which means the sea is there at nine in the morning and still there at four in the afternoon. On the east coast it is not.
With small children, the ability to go in the water on impulse is worth more than any other feature of a hotel. It is the whole reason the northern tip charges what it charges.
The trade is crowds and a busier beach. Most families take that deal without much hesitation once they understand the alternative.
When the east coast works anyway
Kiwengwa is the family coast on the east side, and it works because the resorts are built around the problem. A good pool covers the four hours the lagoon is gone, and the kids' clubs are concentrated here.
Check the pool specifically. On this coast it is not a nice extra, it is where your children will swim for part of every day, and a small cold plunge pool is not going to do it.
Practicalities worth knowing
The drive from the airport to the north is ninety minutes, which is a long time with a tired toddler at the end of a long flight. Book the transfer rather than negotiating one.
Under sixes go free on most boat trips including Safari Blue, and the sandbank stop is shallow and safe. Check life jackets in child sizes, which not every boat carries.
Malaria is present on the island, more so after the rains. Talk to a travel clinic about children specifically, because the tablets and doses differ from the adult ones. Our Zanzibar health guide covers the rest.
Rooms, and the family room problem
Most beach hotels here were built for couples, and genuine family rooms are scarcer than the booking filters suggest. A great deal of what is listed as family accommodation is two rooms with a connecting door, priced as two rooms.
Villas and apartments work better for four or more, and several of the east coast places do them at a rate that undercuts two hotel rooms comfortably.
Confirm the sleeping arrangement in writing. Extra beds and cots are common but not universal, and finding out on arrival is a bad start to a week.
Eating with children
All inclusive solves this entirely and it is the honest reason so many families take it here. Buffets mean fussy eaters find something and nobody has to negotiate a menu twice a day. Which resorts have a kids' club, coast by coast, is in the all inclusive guide.
Outside the resorts, food is grilled fish, rice, chips and fruit, which most children get on with. Spice levels in tourist restaurants are mild by default.
Tap water is not drinkable, which matters more with children. Bottled water is cheap and every hotel supplies it, and it is worth being strict about ice in places that look improvised.
What to do with a week
Two boat trips at most, and pick the ones where children can stay aboard: Safari Blue, where the sandbank is shallow and safe, and a sunset dhow, which is short.
Jozani forest works well and takes two hours. Children who are bored by a beach are rarely bored by monkeys three metres above their head.
The rest of the week is the beach and the pool, which is what everyone actually came for and what makes this a good family destination in the first place.
What a family actually pays
The awkward fact about Zanzibar with children is that most hotels sell two doubles rather than a family room, which changes the arithmetic sharply.
| Setup | A night, low season | A night, high season | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family room, four people | $140 to $260 | $220 to $400 | Rare outside the larger resorts. Ask before assuming |
| Two connecting doubles | $160 to $320 | $280 to $500 | The common answer. Confirm they genuinely connect |
| All inclusive, four people | $300 to $450 | $420 to $650 | Food and drink included, which changes the comparison entirely |
| A two bedroom villa | $250 to $600 | $400 to $900 | Often the best value for two families travelling together |
Two families travelling together will usually do better with a whole house. The larger ones, with a private pool, are listed in Zanzibar villas and boutique hotels.
Add the compulsory costs before comparing anything: $50 a head for the visa, or $100 on a US passport, and the ZIC insurance at $44 an adult and $22 a child from three to seventeen. Only babies are exempt. See the visa page.
Flying and arriving with children
The journey is the hard part, not the island.
- Eight to ten hours from Europe with one stop. Eighteen to twenty four from North America, with two. There is no direct flight from either.
- Talk to a travel clinic about malaria. Risk on Zanzibar is low but not zero, and prophylaxis for children is a conversation to have before you book, not after.
- Bring reef shoes in every size. Sea urchins put more visitors in a clinic here than anything else, and children are barefoot by definition.
- The transfer is ninety minutes to the north. After a night flight, with tired children. It is the strongest argument for two nights in Stone Town first, twenty minutes from the airport.
- Nappies and formula are hard to find. Stone Town has them, the beaches largely do not. Bring what you need for the week.
What to do with children, by age
The shortlist is shorter than the island's, and most of it is water.
- Under five. The northern tip, a pool, and not much else. The sunset dhow at two hours is the one outing that works.
- Five to ten. The tortoises at Prison Island, the butterfly centre at Jozani, a spice tour where somebody paints their hand red.
- Ten and over. Snorkelling at Mnemba, and Safari Blue as a full day. Both are genuinely good and neither is a children's version of anything.
- Teenagers. Learning to kitesurf at Paje, which is one of the best places on earth to do it. Nine hours over three days and most people are riding.
Prices and timings for all of those are in things to do in Zanzibar.
Questions people ask about Zanzibar with kids
Is Zanzibar good for families with young children?
Yes, on the right coast. The northern tip, where you can swim at any hour, works well. The east coast requires planning around the tide, which small children do not do, so a hotel with a proper pool becomes essential.
Which part of Zanzibar is best for families?
Nungwi and Kendwa for the swimming, Kiwengwa for the all inclusive resorts and kids' clubs. Kiwengwa is better value and needs a good pool. The north is easier and costs more.
Can children go on Safari Blue?
Yes, and under sixes go free. It is a full day on a boat, so it suits children who are comfortable with that. The sandbank stop is shallow and safe, and the snorkelling can be skipped by staying aboard.
