Pemba Island

About Pemba Island

Pemba is Zanzibar's quieter, greener sister island to the north, historically the heart of the world's clove production and still covered in lush, hilly plantations that give it a noticeably different landscape from the flatter main island. Tourism here remains far less developed, and the island retains strong local traditions, including a longstanding reputation across East Africa for traditional healing practices.

What to Expect

Pemba's real draw for travelers is diving: the Pemba Channel drops away steeply just offshore, creating dramatic wall dives and strong currents that attract pelagic species rarely seen on Zanzibar's gentler reefs. On land, walking through working clove and spice plantations offers a quieter, more agricultural counterpart to Zanzibar's beach resorts.

Best Time to Visit

The dry seasons from June to October and December to February bring the clearest water for diving the channel's walls and drop-offs.

Getting to Pemba Island

Pemba is reached by a short flight from Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam, best suited to divers and travelers looking for something quieter and less developed than the main island.

Combine With: Pemba is best suited to travelers who have already visited Zanzibar's main island and want a quieter, diving-focused extension, or to serious divers prioritizing the channel's wall dives above beach resort amenities.

An Island Apart

Pemba's hillier terrain and denser vegetation give it a distinctly different feel from Zanzibar's main island, closer in character to a tropical rainforest than a typical beach destination. Local guides can arrange visits to working clove plantations during harvest season, when the scent of drying cloves fills entire villages.

Traditional healing practices remain part of everyday life in parts of Pemba, and while this is not typically presented as a tourist activity, it reflects a cultural depth that sets the island apart from more commercially developed destinations.