Mnemba Island, Tanzania > Reviews > Idyllic, pristine private island getaway

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	The island and lodge is perfect in every way .
Disadvantages:	The only disadvantange is that you have to leave .  (And a little pricey)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Mnemba is a private island off the North-eastern coast of Zanzibar. The Mnemba Island Lodge is a luxurious yet natural resort with 10 chalets on the beach.
~THE ISLAND~
Mnemba is the epitome of the perfect idyllic tropical island. The island is a perfectly round circle about 5km in circumference, with the most perfect beach of bright white fluffy sand. The sand is as bright as snow – that you have to wear sunglasses. And even in the midday the sand is cool to walk on.
Mnemba has a very fortuitous weather anomaly, where very rarely seems to rain, even when the main island gets the afternoon showers. It’s like in a cartoon where the island is the only spot where the rain clouds never come.
From the beach, you can walk directly into a snorkelling depth reef, with the most amazing tropical sea life. It is like wading through a luxury fish tank.
The vegetation on the island isn’t too dense, with brush vegetation (no palm trees here), and you can there are very tame dik-dik’s (pygmy deer) that walk around the chalets and the grounds.
It is a very pleasant walk around the circumference of the island – and the chances of you walking into someone are very very rare.
~THE LODGE~
The lodge was designed to blend in with the natural atmosphere of the island as much as possible. All the structures are made from bamboo, and everything is very charming, without being elaborate.
What makes this resort a luxury resort is the attention to every little detail, and the personal care by the lodge staff. All the pathways are always kept clean, and the luxury bed linens are perfectly made and turned down by invisible staff.
Each chalet is completely isolated from the adjacent ones – and face directly onto the beach. You can lie in bed and watch the ocean. Each chalet has its own beautifully designed bathroom, as well as a pair of day beds in front of the chalet, for lounging in the day.
~THE FOOD~
Breakfast and lunch is served in a common dining chalet close to beach, and includes a variety of delicious foods, with the most amazing local fresh fruits and fruit juices, local sea foods (caught fresh by the resort staff) as well as any Western foods that might be required. Due to the small numbers of guests – the resort staff go out of their way to accommodate the wishes of the guests. We had the most amazing prawn tempura several times on request.
After a tropical cocktail, dinner is served by candlelight on the beach . The tables for the guests are set up spaced well out of ear-shot of each other, and the atmosphere and the romance of these dinners are difficult to describe but quite unforgettable. The quality of the food easily matches that of a very good local restaurant – and is very well presented.
~THE ACTIVITIES~
Mnemba island is one of the few places in the world where the reefs are still undamaged by human hands due to the fact that the island is private, and offers some beautiful diving spots. The island operates a full dive centre, which caters for daily dive trips (an existing diving qualification is required) – and they have good quality dive equipment and professional dive masters.
My favourite dive spot was the Big Wall – where I saw the most and the most beautiful sea life I have seen at any dive spot anywhere in the world. The ocean is perfectly calm here most of the time, and the water bright, azure and clear – making this a beautiful and relaxing diving location.
The resort also offers kayaking, fly-fishing, windsurfing and the aforementioned snorkelling and scuba diving. At a location like this you don’t even need activities – just lying on beach luxuriating in the perfectly calm quiet and getting a tan is enough.
We also made a sunset champagne trip around the island on a traditional dhow – which was another of the long list of unforgettable experiences from Mnemba Island.
~HOW TO GET THERE~
There are several flight options available to get to Zanzibar – although no direct flights to Zanzibar at the time I went. I looked at several options but settled on an option for South African Airways with stopovers in Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam, as I had friends I wanted to visit in Johannesburg. There are flights available from about £500.
The flights are long, and the stopovers can be tedious – and the airport at Dar es Salaam was not in a wonderful state of repair – but it does add to the sense of adventure.
Once in Stonetown (the main town of Zanzibar) – it takes about a 2 hour drive over the island by a tour operator, and then a 20 minute boat ride to get to the island.
The travelling might be a bit harsh, and take a long time – but it is definitely worth it for the experience of this lodge.
There are various sites to see in Zanzibar itself, and we spent a night at the Serina Inn in Stonetown to see the sites and experience the wonderful architecture. It also makes the journey feel shorter.
~PRICES~
Unfortunately perfection comes at a price – and the rates at the Mnemba Lodge ranges between US$750 and US$950.
I would highly recommend Mnemba island to anyone who wants to experience the romantic island holiday of a lifetime.