Zanzibar: Michamvi Kae

We decided to check out a different part of Zanzibar and we ended up in Chekwa Bay in Michamvi Kae. It's an area that we haven't heard much about and on the map it looked to be a little pocket between the more busy Paje/eastern coast and the more tranquil though still popular northeast. 

The local village is tiny and there are a surprisingly large number of "boutique" hotels in the area. I use parenthesis because most of them are landlocked and walled no frills places concentrated between the village and the nearby shoreline. This is a nice thing to have budget options ($30-50) among more higher end beach front properties. The larger hotels on the beach are thinly spread out giving the beach a wide open feel. There are a few large lodges under construction with a notably massive resort-like property with boxy buildings as well as an impressive walkway and pier on stilts. As you walk the northern tip of the peninsula there are a few very nice exclusive properties and what they lack in white sand beaches they make up for in privacy.

I really enjoyed the empty beaches and it was cool to have white sands by the lodges, rocky tide pools to the north, and mangroves to the south. The lodges were all accessible to non-guests for meals and they were all delicious, with a special recommendation for Joy of Zanzibar (beet salad!) and gotta rep the local 'CrazyFish Seafood' as it's known on Google Maps. Mpole Bungalows also had delicious craft ice cream, notably the coconut and passion fruit. There are accommodation options for all budgets and although the area is growing it maintains a quintessential relaxed island vibe.