Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

TIde at Zanzibar. Where to swim full day ?

Country forums / Africa / Tanzania

Hello.
Does anybody know the place in Zanzibar, whe is no tide, or tide is not strong, so i can swim full day ?

hi due to geography of the island best place to swim for non experts are east side beaches with not too steep slope of the beach into the sea and tides(sea water that come and go slowly), but Nungwi( & northern Beaches) has very steep deep slopes almost always with water and almost never affected by tides these waters are best for expert swimmers who are able to go further into the sea
cheers

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Generally the north and western beaches have steeper slopes, so the water is deep enough for swimming even at low tide. The tidal changes are quite high there as well, you will see for example in Kendwa, how the steep sandy slope is out of the water for several metres at low tide whereas the water almost comes up almost to the level part of the beach at high tide. East coast beaches have very shallow slopes, so at low tide there is pretty much no water, and even at high tide you will have to swim out a long way before it gets really deep.
On both sides there may be strong currents, but they seem to run parallel to the shore, so there is no danger that they will pull you out. On windy days at high tide, there may be some waves on east coast beaches (big enough to be fun for adults and scary for small children), whereas in the north (Kendwa and Nungwi) it is less windy and with the steep slopes waves don't really form.

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Hi there,
I just saw the post and was wondering, I am going to the Jambiani area in Zanzibar in February, are there any good snorkeling spots? I am a beginner at snorkeling and am not familiar with sea currents. Are there strong currents that can pull you into sea in the South Eastern side of the island? I really just want to have an enjoyable time snorkeling as I don't have pleny of snorkeling and ocean experience.

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Snorkelling from the beach isn't great anywhere in Zanzibar, definetely not in the south-east. It's not so much because of currents, but simply because even at high tide when there is water, there isn't much to see except for sand and seaweed. There is a reef further out, accessible by boat, not sure how good the snorkelling is there.
There is good snorkelling around Mnemba Atoll off the north-east coast (again, you will need a boat to get there), but the currents can be quite strong there.
On the other side of the island in the north-west, you can find some coral bommies not far from the beach, but again, the best spots are further out. There is also decent snorkelling around the islands off Stonetown. Day trips to prison island usually include snorkelling off the boat in the shallow waters near the island.

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