Places to Visit in Pemba Island, Tanzania, East Africa, Africa

Places to Visit in Pemba Island, Tanzania, East Africa, Africa

Pemba Island is a part of Zanzibar Archipelago in Tanzania, located on the Indian Ocean. It spans a land area of 988 square kilometers, around 50 km north of the archipelago’s largest island Unguja and 50 km east of Tanzania’s mainland. Chake-Chake is the capital, while Wete is the largest city on the island. Pemba Island receives a substantial number of tourists during the dry season, mainly for its diving sites, historic ruins and fishing. Being a fertile land, Pemba Island is home to abundant of clove, coconut trees, banana and cassava plants and rice fields.

History of Pemba Island:

The history of Pemba Island dates back to the middle of the 13^th century when it was ruled by two independent sultans, according to the Arab geographer Yakut. As a part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Pemba Island merged with Tanganyika (former name of what is today’s mainland Tanzania) to form a unified country Tanzania after the independence from British.

How to get Pemba Island?

Pemba Airport is the airport serving Pemba Island with scheduled flights to/from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Tanga, Mwanza and Arusha. The distance of 7 km from the airport to the capital Chake-Chake can easily be crossed by taxi or rental cars.

Pemba Island can also be reached by boat from the mainland Tanzania and Unguja Island but that is time consuming. Dala dala or minibuses are the prevalent options on Pemba Island to move between the towns.

Culture, Food and Shopping in Pemba Island:

People belonging to Arab community dominate the population of Pemba Island, who migrated from Oman long back. The island is also home to the substantial proportion of Waswahili and Shirazi people.

Modernized shopping centre is difficult to find on Pemba Island but one can find a number of small upgraded traditional options. Pemba Island’s people follow the same kind of food practiced in mainland Tanzania like chapatti, tart soup and vegetable salads.

What to do in Pemba Island?

Diving
Beach exploration
Day tours
Walking

Tourist Attractions in Pemba Island:

Umoja Children’s Park:

The Umoja Children’s Park is a popular recreational centre on Pemba Island, mainly for children. This dramatic green area is located on the outskirts of the city of Chake Chake.

Diving sites on Pemba Island:

Diving is the main reason to visit Pemba Island as it is popularly called the East Africa’s one of the diving jewels. Swahili Divers and Manta Reef are the main dive operators on the island, who leads visitors to wide plate coral gardens and marine reserve on the island to introduce the real experience of Pemba’s diving.

Historic ruins on Pemba Island:

The Pemba Island is the site of many famous historical sites, one in which is located on peninsula called Ras Mkumbuu, dating from the 14th century and another is at Pujini village, located near the Chake-Chake city, dating from to the fifteenth century.

Pemba Airport:

The Pemba Airport is one of the landmark sites, situated around 7 kilometers from the city of Chake-Chake. The airport is known for standard construction with all basic facilities and also for its pleasant environment.

List of other places of interest in and around Pemba Island includes:

Kigomasha Peninsula
Chake-Chake Bay
Wete
Mkoani
Jozani Forest Reserve
Chake-Chake
Pemba Flying Fox Forest

Best time to visit Pemba Island:

Generally from July to October is the best time to visit Pemba Island to catch the beauty of natural attractions, especially from July and August are famous for whale watching.

Accommodation options in Pemba Island:

Like nice tourist attractions, Pemba Island houses many nice hotels that are modernized with upgraded facilities and services to provide quality hospitality services to tourists visiting the island occasionally. Some such well facilitated hotels on Pemba Island include: