Where Kendwa is
Kendwa is a wide, west-facing beach a short distance south of Nungwi on the north-western shoulder of Unguja. It shares Nungwi’s great structural advantage and has less of its noise, which is the whole of the case for staying here rather than there.
The tide, and the sunset
Like Nungwi, Kendwa sits where the water is deeper close inshore and the reef flat is narrow, so the island’s large tidal range — close to a metre at neaps, over three metres at springs — does not empty the beach. You can swim here at any state of the tide. On most of Unguja’s east coast that is not true, and the difference decides what a week actually looks like. The mechanics are set out in the beach holidays guide.
The second thing Kendwa has is orientation. It faces west across the Zanzibar Channel, which makes it the usual place on the island to watch the sun go down over open water rather than over land. East-coast beaches face the wrong way for this entirely, which is why sunset boat trips there run from the sheltered western side of the eastern peninsula instead.
The beach itself is broad and sandy, with more usable width than most of the island at either end of the tide.
What there is to do
Kendwa is a swimming and lying-down beach with a boat trade attached rather than an activity centre in its own right. Most of what runs here runs out of the northern end of the island as a whole.
Dhow sailing is the obvious one, and the north tip has the island’s largest concentration of boats and its best open-water sunsets. Diving and snorkelling run from the north, with the reef around Mnemba off the north-east corner the signature site — and, as elsewhere on this site, worth repeating: Mnemba is a private island, non-guests may not land, and a Mnemba trip is a trip to the water around it. Deep-sea fishing charters work from this end of the island, and sea kayaking is straightforward on the sheltered western side.
Kendwa faces the wrong way for the prevailing monsoon winds, so it is not a kitesurfing beach. That is the east coast.
Kendwa has a long-standing reputation for nightlife, and there is more of it here than the quiet description of the beach suggests. It is less relentless than Nungwi and more concentrated into particular nights.
Practical notes
Kendwa and Nungwi are close enough to walk between along the shore at the right state of the tide, and the walk is a good one. Check the tide before setting off in either direction, because the route narrows. Getting to this end of the island in the first place, by ferry or by air, is covered in the guide to reaching Zanzibar and crossing it.
Reef shoes for any wading over rock or seagrass, as everywhere on this coast: urchins sit invisibly in rubble.
Beachwear belongs on the hotel beach. Shoulders and knees covered in the village and on the road, the same as anywhere else on Unguja, and that is appreciated rather than demanded.
On seasons: Unguja runs on a bimodal rainfall pattern, with the long rains, masika, from about March to May and the short rains, vuli, from about October to December — October, not November, which is the shorthand most travel copy uses. A good number of coastal operations close for part of masika. The lighter kaskazi wind runs roughly December to March and the stronger kusi roughly June to September. The seasonal guide to Zanzibar and the coast sets those winds and the rains out month by month.
Common questions about Kendwa
Can I swim at Kendwa at low tide?
Yes. Like Nungwi, it sits where the water is deep enough close inshore that the island’s large tidal range does not empty the beach. This is the main reason the north-west corner is sold as the swimming end of Zanzibar.
Kendwa or Nungwi?
Same swimming, different atmosphere. Nungwi is bigger, busier, has more accommodation, more dive centres and more going on; Kendwa is quieter, wider and faces the sunset more squarely. They are close enough that staying at one does not exclude the other.
Is Kendwa good for sunsets?
It is the beach most often named for them on Unguja, because it faces west across the channel with open water in front of it. The east coast beaches face the wrong way entirely.
Is there much to do at Kendwa itself?
Not a great deal beyond swimming, boats and eating, which is the point of it. Diving, fishing, sailing and snorkelling all run from the northern end of the island as a whole rather than from the beach specifically, and the rest of Unguja is within a couple of hours.
Can I kitesurf at Kendwa?
No. The north and west coasts face away from the prevailing winds. Kitesurfing on Unguja is an east coast activity, concentrated between Matemwe and Jambiani.