Shungi Kajengwa · Unguja South
Makunduchi & the south coast
Zanzibar has four very different coasts, and most visitors only ever see one of them. Zuri Cliff sits on the southern one — the end of the island where the road traffic thins out, the beach bars stop and the coastline turns to rock and cliff.
The island in four parts
The north, around Nungwi and Kendwa, is the lively end: swimmable all day regardless of the tide, and busy with it. The east coast, Paje and Jambiani, is the kitesurfing coast, where the tide sets the rhythm of the day and the water walks a long way out. Stone Town sits on the west, an easy day out and a real one. The south, where the villa is, stays quiet — not because it is remote, but because nothing was ever built here at scale.
Within half an hour
| Place | Drive | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Jambiani | 12 min | Restaurants, ATMs, the Island Clinic |
| Kuza Cave, Jambiani | 12 min | Natural freshwater swimming cave |
| Paje | 19 min | The kitesurfing centre of the island; restaurants |
| Maalum Cave, Paje | 19 min | A second, quite different swimming cave — not the same as Kuza |
| Mtende Beach | 23 min | A cove between two rock formations, steps cut into the cliff |
| Kizimkazi | 24 min | Dolphins, a seasonal beach fish auction, boats to the Menai Bay sandbanks |
Closer still, and needing no car at all: Makunduchi’s own fish market and the seaweed farms along the shore are a walk from the house. No guide, no tour, no ticket.
A little further
Jozani Forest is 41 minutes away and holds the rare red colobus monkey, which exists nowhere else. The Rock Restaurant, sitting on its own outcrop offshore at Pingwe, is roughly the same distance — book ahead.
Worth a whole day
Stone Town is an hour and a half from the villa and deserves a full day, best combined with a spice farm on the way. Safari Blue leaves from Fumba, a similar distance, and is a day under sail through Menai Bay with snorkelling and a seafood lunch. Mnemba Atoll, known for its reef and dolphins, sits off the north-east coast — a genuine day trip rather than an afternoon. Prison Island and the Nakupenda sandbank are just off Stone Town, the first known for its giant tortoises.
Eating out
Jambiani at twelve minutes and Paje at nineteen both have a proper spread of restaurants: fresh fish and seafood, Italian kitchens, international menus. For an evening out, the drive is short enough to be an afterthought.
Two bedrooms, three baths, the whole property, on the quiet coast. From $400 per night.
Check availabilityRead on
- Inside the villa — rooms, pool and deck
- Getting here — flights, e-visa, insurance, transfer
- Rates and seasons