Chumbe beach with
fossilised corals

Lots of activities are waiting for you on and around Chumbe Island. (Make sure you bring enough time with you!)

The whole of Chumbe Island is a nature reserve and you may explore its beauties either under the competent guidance of our park rangers or at your leisure.

Snorkel through our unique shallow water Reef Sanctuary or explore the Forest Reserve and historical monuments. Take an excursion out SCUBA diving the nearby reefs, or perhaps just allow yourself a lazy day watching dhows and outrigger boats go by .... .

Staghorn Coral with
Sea Anemone

Oscar, our 'deep sea' Potato
Grouper

Since the park was gazetted, having been recognised for its immense beauty and bio-diversity, there has been almost no fishing or un-authorised anchoring in the Chumbe Reef Sanctuary. The reef remains in a pristine state (which nowadays is sadly rare in the world).

The reef crest, encompassing a spectacular array of hard corals, is shallow (between 1-3m according to tides). Therefore snorkelers can see all those wonders of the underwater world normally only accessible to divers. If you swim up to the reef ridge the view opens up a world of breathtaking sights. Shoals of barracuda taking advantage of the abundant prey living on the reef glide by and if you are lucky you may get a chance to see the playful dolphins cruising in and out of the abyss. Each snorkeling excursion provides new discoveries for guests and with each visit you are unlikely to be disappointed!

With negligiblefishing intrusion for so many years, the marine wildlife has become very unconcerned about those few humans moving around. The diversity of fishes is unbelievable and their tameness very natural. To watch out for:

• batfishes who have developed the habit of following snorkelers at close range all along the reef (out of curiosity?).
   
• our resident hawksbill turtles regularly spotted feeding on the reef. If you imitate the slow flapping movements of her front flippers with your arms while keeping your legs still, she may allow you to accompany her for a long time without showing signs of disturbance.
   
• lobsters peeping out from under corals, trying to investigate your presence with their long white feelers.
   
• large bluespotted stingrays, apparently believing they are invisible when hiding under a thin layer of sand.
   
• Oscar, the 1m potato grouper living in one of the caves, about 5m deep. He is too old to trust humans, so be patient if you'd like to spot him.
   
• large, colourful parrotfish wandering about the reef and nibbling on the algae covering the corals with a very audible scratching sound.
   
• many more fishes, nearly than 400 species in total; groupers, angelfish, butterfly fish, triggerfish, boxfish, sweetlips, unicornfish, trumpetfish, lionfish, moorish idols ... to name but a few.

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Scuba diving to neighbouring reefs can be arranged once you are on the island. A day excursion with two dives, all equipment and lunch, costs:  US$ 125 per person, with a minimum of 2 qualified divers required.

Additionally many of our guests use Chumbe as a base to explore the Stone Town area, Jozani Forest and beyond, we are happy to arrange further excursions for you (not inclusive in the rates given on our Accomodation page). These can be arranged with our Lodge Manager once you are on the island.

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When the tide is very low it's possible to walk all the way around the island, exploring the rock pools where juvenile fish and a myriad of crabs, shellfish, starfish, oysters and other invertebrates exist in the ever-changing environment of the intertidal. At spring tides, upon reaching the north point of the island, take the time to bask on the exposed sandbar providing over a km of pristine beach (but don't forget to turn back before the tide changes and the sandbar is absorbed back into the ocean). At the south point discover the amazing variety of starfish and explore the small islets where you may be fortunate enough to find Roseate Terns nesting and Fish Eagles battling for territory.

Discover the footpath leading down into a large intertidal pool overgrown with mangroves and shaded by huge baobab trees, where the seawater rises and falls with the tides and where you may observe many creatures adapted to these conditions.

You'll find more background information on our Reef Sanctuary Page.

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At the trail

A network of nature trails crisscross the southern part of the virgin coral rag forest that covers about 90% of Chumbe.

The bedrock of the island is made up of an impressive substrate of fossilized coral. You can still see the skeletal structures of corals and giant clams - a gentle reminder of the passage of time. More staggering still is the coral-rag forest. You would be forgiven for thinking it a rainforest at first, before closer inspection reveals that on Chumbe a highly specialised plant community has developed that survives without any groundwater. Instead some of these remarkably adapted trees depend on capturing moisture from the humidity in the air while others are able to store away months' supply of water during the rainy season. You will notice leaves that are either fleshy and waxy, or fold up during the heat of the day to reduce transpiration, and spiky euphorbia thrusts forth wherever it can get a stronghold. The dense canopy keeps the scorching sun out of the forest where aerial roots tangle and compete to form the incredibly dense matrix of this special forest habitat. To watch out for:

• the birds hiding in the thicket. Our bird list consists of 64 species including the Mangrove and Pied Kingfishers, Fish Eagle and Peregrine Falcon.
   
• the hermit crabs that busy about searching for new shells to adopt as their homes. Notice the early morning mosaic of trails across the sand where they have been exploring the beach while you sleep.
   
• the exceptionally shy Ader’s Duikers (Cephalophus adersi), the rarest antelope in the world. Under threat of extinction in its endemic Zanzibar, where less than 500 individuals remain; CHICOP, in collaboration with the Zanzibar Forestry Department, undertook the translocation as part of a program to protect this species, making Chumbe home to the only Ader’s duiker sanctuary.

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Historical Mosque

You can also climb the 131 steps to the top of the Chumbe Lighthouse, built in 1904 by the Sultan of Zanzibar and the British. From the top you can enjoy the breathtaking view of the turquoise seas between Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, still plied by dhows unchanged for a thousand years. For early risers, reaching the top of the lighthouse at sunrise is a spectacular way to start the day, as the sun appears over the land mass of Zanzibar (Unguja) island, turning the ocean a deep orange and flecking the scenery with spectacular hues. With the arrival of morning the breeze picks up as if on cue, to billow the sails of the flotilla of dhows departing from their village moorings to set sail for the working day.

The lighthouse was fitted with a gas light in 1926 which still works today and this historic monument has featured in the annals of historic manuscripts (one infamous story being the wartime encounter between the battleships 'Koenigsberg' and 'Pegasus' on the 20th September 1914 ....)

After a day of exploration and discovery, dine under the huge palm thatched roof stretching over the ruins of the historical lighthouse keeper's house converted into a visitors' centre. This spectacular structure has kept the enclosed ruins intact, and offers tranquil views across the ocean. Next door nestles the beautifully elaborate small mosque, built for the lighthouse keepers nearly 100 years ago. The mosque is one of the only Indian-style mosques in Zanzibar, and it is still in use today by the team on the island.

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