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  • Thanda Island : Aerial View Of Island
  • Thanda Island : Villa Exterior
  • Thanda Island : Banda Exterior
  • Thanda Island : Beachfront Campfire
  • Thanda Island : Pool
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Type: Private Island

Summary: Private island in the Shungimnili Island Marine Reserve

Feature: Swim with whale sharks, sea turtles and dugongs

Rooms: 1 villa & 2 bandas

Location: Zanzibar, Tanzania

Star rating: Member of 'The Leading Hotels of the World'

Nearest airport: Dar Es Salaam

Transfer: A private island off Mafia Island, Tanzania. A 45-minute helicopter flight from Dar es Salaam direct onto Thanda Island. Alternatively, a flight from Dar es Salaam to Mafia Island, followed by a thirty-minute boat transfer. Private charters can be arranged, please discuss this with your Travel Consultant. NB: Visas are required for Tanzania. 

Luxury Holidays At Thanda Island

Located off the coast of Tanzania in the Zanzibar Archipelago, Thanda Island is a luxurious and breathtakingly beautiful private island hideaway. Fly in by helicopter directly onto the island, where a team of staff - including private butlers, a boat crew, dive instructor, chef and even your very own cocktail mixologist – will be waiting to take care of your every need.

A member of Luxury Hotels of the World, Thanda Island is synonymous with paradise and can accommodate fourteen adults and up to thirteen children across the five-bedroom villa and the two traditional Tanzanian bandas. For dining, expect breakfast on the beach, picnics on a sandbar, or a banquet under the stars; nothing is too much trouble for the Thanda culinary team, who serve locally-sourced and homemade cuisine. The island is also packed with amenities to keep you busy - including a large gym, an indoor aquarium, beachfront copper bath tubs, a floodlit tennis court, jet skis, sea kayaks and access to the deep-sea fishing boat. Further activities include excursions to Chole Island, diving the reefs off Mafia Island and swimming with whale sharks as they pass by Thanda Island on their annual migration path.

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Why Thanda Island is so special...

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Luxury Beach

Thanda Island’s beautiful beach stretches for a kilometre, surrounded by the pristine Shungimbili Island Marine Reserve. Allowing you to make the very most of your glorious surroundings, each of the villa’s five bedrooms lead directly onto the beach. Sink into one of the deep copper bathtubs located right on the sand and watch the changing colours of sunset, before savouring a bonfire beach barbecue.

Luxury Beach at Thanda Island

Luxury Family Holidays

Private and picturesque, Thanda Island is perfect for the ultimate multi-generational family celebration. Sleeping 14 adults and up to 13 children, there are plenty of activities to keep even the youngest members of the family busy. Little ones and adults alike will love to make pizzas with the chef, cruise around the island, snorkel over the marine reserve and look for nesting sea turtles. 

Luxury Family Holidays at Thanda Island

Scuba Diving

The Mafia Island Marine Park is the largest protected reserve in the Indian Ocean and is home to turtles, sharks and dugongs - plus much, much more! Just one of many incredible dive sites, the Milimani Coral Gardens are teaming with vibrant-coloured fish. Meanwhile, experienced divers can explore The Kinasi Pass; the 30-metre drop-off is home to barracuda, giant gropers and reef rays. Thanda Island have partnered up with the five-star PADI-certified Mafia Island Diving Centre, offering expert guides and state-of-the-art equipment.

Scuba Diving at Thanda Island

Culture & History

Set sail on a traditional dhow boat towards Chole Island. Since the 8th century, this charming island was an important base for the Arabic traders. As you explore, visit a traditional boat maker who still manually carves the village's dhow boats. Helping out the local community, every guest visiting the island aids to support the running of the primary school by paying a modest fee. 

Culture & History at Thanda Island

Hotel Experiences

From October to March, the shores off Thanda Island are home to whale sharks. These incredible creatures - sometimes up to 18 metres in length - are the largest fish in the world. What's more, the expert Thanda guides will bring along GoPro cameras to record this truly magical moment.

Hotel Experiences at Thanda Island
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Pricing

Speak to our Luxury Travel Specialists for our latest pricing and offers.

 

Amenities

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  • checkFitness Room/Gym
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  • checkPrivate Chef
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  • checkSpa Treatments
  • checkSwimming Pool
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Zanzibar Travel Information

Best Time To Travel

  • JAN
  • FEB
  • MAR
  • APR
  • MAY
  • JUN
  • JUL
  • AUG
  • SEP
  • OCT
  • NOV
  • DEC
  • Best
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Capital

Zanzibar City

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Language

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Time Difference

3

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Currency

Tanzanian Shilling

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Voltage

230v

Climate

Zanzibar enjoys hot and sunny weather throughout the year, with an ideal sea breeze. Rain becomes more frequent in April and May, but the showers throughout the remainder of the year are generally short.

Getting There

Flight Information
British Airways direct from London Heathrow to Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi.
Via Dubai with Emirates from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Glasgow.
Onward connecting flights with Precision Air to Zanzibar.

Flight Time
From London Heathrow to Dar Es Salaam: 9 hours, 35 minutes. London Heathrow to Nairobi: 8 hours, 25 minutes.
Onward connecting flights from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar: 30 minutes.
From Nairobi to Zanzibar: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Prison Island

Take a boat trip to Prison Island, once used to quarantine Yellow Fever sufferers. The island is a great place to snorkel and to see giant Aldabra Tortoises − some of whom are around one-hundred years old. Perhaps you fancy exploring the island’s interior woodland, as you keep your eyes peeled for birds, bats, various butterflies and Duiker Antelope.

Prison Island
Wildlife Encounters

Great for wildlife-lovers, Jozani Natural Forest Reserve is home to the Red Colobus Monkey, offering a wonderful opportunity to see and photograph these rare species. Furthermore, experience an unforgettable dolphin safari from the village of Kizimkazi, on the southern coast of the island, as you spot the majestic Bottlenose and Humpback Dolphins.

Wildlife Encounters
Anglican Cathedral

The Anglican Cathedral is a must-see in Stone Town. Building work started in 1873 and lasted ten years, under the vision and contribution of Edward Steere, third Anglican Bishop of Zanzibar. The tall spire and yellow-grey walls blend in with the surrounding streets of Stone Town, whilst the dark-wood pews and stained-glass windows reminded the British visitors of churches back home. With the history of the slave trade in Zanzibar, there is a monument that remembers this dark period of history.

Anglican Cathedral
Old Fort

Located on the main seafront, discover the impressive ramparts of the Old Fort in Stone Town, overlooking the beautiful Forodhani Gardens and the ocean beyond. The forts were constructed by the Omani Arabs to defend the island from the Portuguese in 1698. Today, the Old Fort is still an impressive sight, complete with souvenir shops for those little keepsakes and a pleasant café for refreshment. Local shows in the open-air amphitheatre (located next to the Old Fort) are also a brilliant accompaniment to visiting the Old Fort.

Old Fort
House of Wonders

Whilst visiting iconic Stone Town, do visit the extraordinary House of Wonders, which rises in impressive tiers of lean steel pillars and large open balconies and overlooks the waterfront. Built in 1883 for Barghash bin Said, second Sultan of Zanzibar, it is the largest and tallest building in Stone Town. The origins of the name, ‘House of Wonders’ comes from it being the first building in Zanzibar to have electricity and running water, along with being the first building in East Africa to have a lift.

House of Wonders

Africa experts

Our Luxury Travel Specialists are an enthusiastic, passionate and committed group of people who are exceptionally well travelled.

Our dedicated Africa experts are ready to help you design your luxury holiday to Thanda Island.

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Elegant Resorts Luxury Travel Specialist
Elegant Resorts Luxury Travel Specialist
Elegant Resorts Luxury Travel Specialist
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