Prison Island - Zanzibar
schedule
- Pick-up and Drop-off Point: Your hotel in Zanzibar
- Pick-up Time: 9:00 AM
- Total Time: Approx. 6 hours (including boat ride)
- Distance Coverage: Short boat ride from Stone Town
Highlights
- Discover giant Aldabra tortoises.
- Guided tour for an informative experience.
- Explore the rich history of Prison Island.
- Start with a nice boat ride from Stone Town to the island.
A short boat ride from Stone Town brings you to one of Zanzibar’s more unusual destinations. The island was built as a detention facility for enslaved people in the late 19th century but never actually used as one. It became a quarantine station instead, and later a leisure retreat. The buildings that remain have that particular quality of places that have outlived several different purposes.
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The giant Aldabra tortoises are the main draw for most visitors. The colony was gifted to Zanzibar from the Seychelles in the 1910s and has been here ever since. The oldest individuals are well over a century old, moving at their own pace around the grounds with complete indifference to the people around them. You can feed them and spend as much time as you want among them. It is a genuinely unhurried experience.
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The snorkelling around the island is worth doing if conditions allow, and the short walk around the grounds covers the old prison buildings and the views back toward Stone Town across the channel.
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It works well as a half-day trip combined with a Stone Town walk in the afternoon, or as a standalone morning out from your beach base. We’ll sort the boat and the guide and let you set the pace once you’re there.