Set on a private island off the north eastern tip of Zanzibar, Mnemba Island Lodge offers guests the perfect destination to get away from it all.

On the private island of Mnemba, you can discover a sheer, unpretentious paradise that you share with just a handful of other guests and the friendly and helpful staff.

Each of the 10 luxury beach bandas are very spacious and open-plan with high palm-frond roofs, a large entrance and windows leading straight onto the veranda.

Overhead fans sit above the double bed in a spacious bedroom filled with soft, natural fabrics and traditional woodcarvings, whilst the lovely breeze cools down the warm tropical nights. A shady corridor of woven palm leaves leads to a large shuttered bathroom where a massive stone shower awaits behind a glass beaded curtain.

During the day you can stretch out on the built-in barazas on your veranda or settle into a plush armchair to enjoy the ocean view.  Traditional Zanzibari loungers in your private beach sala invite you to spend time in the sun.

The lodge has a makuti covered restaurant, bar and lounge area looking straight out onto the beach. The food and service, as you can imagine, is impeccable but also relaxed and friendly adding to enjoyment of the private island atmosphere.

The diving here is amazing and it is possible to dive straight off the beach onto some superb reefs and walls. There is wonderful snorkelling directly off the beach, as well as kayaking, windsurfing, fly-fishing and deep sea fishing.  Mnemba is also a breeding site for the highly endangered green turtles; turtle hatching takes place between December and May.

The beach on Mnemba is amazing and is really what makes the whole experience so memorable. This is a unique place that is impossible to match anywhere else in Africa.