Destination guide

Pemba

The green clove island, hills of forest and walls of untouched coral

Pemba is Zanzibar's lush, hilly northern island, the archipelago's clove heartland and a legendary wall-diving destination. Its single job for a traveller is to be the wild, uncrowded alternative to Unguja, all steep green farmland, empty reefs and deep-water drop-offs.

By the numbers

~500,000

Population

across North and South Pemba

~70%

Clove share

of the world's cloves grown here (est.)

~3.5 million

Clove trees

the bulk of Zanzibar's total

Steep drop-offs

Wall dives

along the Pemba Channel

Chake Chake

Island capital

central town on the west coast

Manta Resort

Underwater room

famous submerged bedroom off Pemba

Best time to visit

Diving is best in the calm, clear dry seasons of June to October and January to February, when visibility on the walls is at its peak. The clove harvest brings the island alive around July to December; the long rains of April and May are the quietest and wettest.

Common questions

Pemba is greener, hillier, far less developed and much quieter than Unguja, prized for pristine wall diving and clove farms rather than beach resorts and nightlife.

Pemba's walls and drift dives suit confident and advanced divers, but the lodges also run courses and gentler sites, so beginners can dive with instruction.

The easiest way is a short flight from Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam into Pemba Airport near Chake Chake; ferries also run to Mkoani but take much longer.

Yes, Pemba is more traditional and devoutly Muslim than Unguja, so dress modestly away from the beach and lodges and be respectful during prayer times and Ramadan.