Sunshine Marine Lodge

Tanzania , Zanzibar
zanzibar, Off Mnemba Island Road
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50 reviews shown

10/10

Exceptional

02 Mar 2026

Carolina

Fantastic stay in this beautiful boutique hotel in Matemwe!

Plus: Amazing ocean view room, great food, amazing staff (everyone is so kind and so nice!), fantastic diving team (be aware that Zanzibar doesn't have big sealife, but the small ones and the sites are beautiful), very relaxing stay, great service overall

Cons: the only cons (but I knew that already and this was part of the reasons why I chose this hotel!) is that the hotel is very isolated so if you are looking for a lot to do, this is not the place for you!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

21 Feb 2026

Samantha

We had a gorgeous sea view room for our 2 night stay. Bed is comfortable, balcony seats very comfortable: good shower etc. place is spotless with attentive housekeeping. Great stay if you’re looking to dive around Mnemba as the diving centre with lovely staff is in the resort. Menu is a bit limited for vegetarians and they ran out of quite a few ingredients (avocado, limes) so it wasn’t the best food we had and the area around the hotel is pretty quiet.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

22 Jan 2026

Kamil

We enjoyed all in this property. Thank You and see You again!

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

09 Dec 2025

james

Great

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

12 Oct 2025

Erica

Lovely stay- great quiet spot with amazing views and friendly and attentive staff. Great scuba diving!

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

30 Jun 2025

Dina

Peaceful oasis

We had an amazing stay at Sunshine Marine Lodge. The staff were all incredibly helpful and friendly. The reception team helped with arranging tours and activities - we especially loved the tour of Stone Town! The hotel also offers transfer services from the airport, which was really convenient. The resort itself is beautiful and peaceful. The food was also great, especially the fresh fruit at breakfast and the daily specials for lunch and dinner. Cannot recommend this stay enough!

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

22 Apr 2025

Dorte

Perfect relaxing holiday

Relaxing holiday. All staff smiling, very friendly and service minded. Excellent team. The food was excellent, perhaps a bit expensive, but very tasty and beautifully served. Special thanks to the waiter Daniel who was really making a difference. We tried yoga and the yoga instructor Anna was really good, Stayed in the ocean view bungalow. The only thing which I recommend is a new madras as it was a bit used.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

29 Apr 2024

George

The propertynwas beautiful, the room was spacioua and incredible balcony. The distance from town and expense to get there and back ( over an hour $160 rtn)was the only drawback.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

10 Sep 2023

Robert

The staff at Sunshine went above and beyond the call of duty to make our stay there wonderful. We especially would like to acknowledge Hamida, Rosemary and Daniel. Everyone there was great and always had a smile waiting for you. Service was top notch and their restaurant deserves a michelin star.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

25 Jul 2023

sarah

The best part of the hotel is the staff—warm, friendly, wonderful and willing to go ABOVE AND BEYOND to make our stay wonderful. The location is far away from hustle and bustle of beaches like Nungwi. No one is trying to sell you anything here. The view from the pools is lovely and the dramatic rise and fall of the tide made for fun little adventures. The dive shop was handy and lovely. The snorkeling and diving at Mnemba were just 20 minute away and great. To note: there isn’t a swimmable beach in front of the hotel. For this, you wait until low tide and walk north to Muyuni or bike there…well worth it for the sandbar, starfish, and swimming. We are so thankful to Sunshine Marine Lodge team for sharing their beautiful space and smiles with us!

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

11 Jul 2022

Ada

The place is very nice Food is Amazing great for a cupples retret! You will anjoy your stay if its a relaxing mode!

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Mar 2020

Carolyn

Amazing views, pools, food and service. Very relaxing private paradise!

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

17 Feb 2020

Chris

Loved the rain-shower-head in the shower. Loved the view from the balcony. Loved everything.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

17 Nov 2019

Verified traveler

We stayed at this property to go scuba diving. Our room was beautiful, the pool was clean, the food was good and well priced and the staff were very friendly and professional. We had a great time and recommend this property to anyone!

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

29 Oct 2019

Verified traveler

This is such a fancy resort and even though the beach is not right by the hotel they have shuttles that will take you to the private beach whenever you want. the private beach is just amazing as it’s so deserted!

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

01 Apr 2019

Tom

Very enjoyable stay at Sunshine Marine Lodge!

My wife and I chose to stay here because of the on-site Scuba Diving shop (Dive Point Zanzibar), and really enjoyed our 5-night stay. The property is located about 90 minutes from the airport, and a one-way private transfer/taxi arranged through the hotel costs $60 USD. We opted for the \"half board\" option which includes breakfast and dinner each day. Breakfast includes a continental style breakfast, but you can also have eggs/omelettes cooked-to-order, along with African pancakes (like a thick crepe). For dinner you can choose from the \"Catch of the Day\", or from a limited 4-course menu that changes daily. All in all, we were very happy with the quality, and quantity of the meals. The rooms were spacious and comfortable (we opted for the seaside bungalow, and had a beautiful/close view right from our room and porch - well worth the extra $. The property grounds are nice, quiet, there are three separate pools on-site, and a nice bar and restaurant. They also offer free yoga classes on Monday, Wednesdays, & Fridays, and you can snorkel right in front of the property during high tide (there are big tide swings here, so at low tide, there is not enough water to snorkel).
We were very pleased with the overall service at the resort, however the restaurant staff/waiters do not seem to be very motivated, or have not been trained well on how to provide excellent service. DivePoint (scuba shop) is excellent, really nice to have on-site, and we loved our 7 dives with them!!!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jan 2019

Mat

As always the staff at the hotel are excellent. The location is ideal if you need to take a break from life and rejuvenate. overall excellent value for money.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

13 Sep 2018

Verified traveler

This place was absolutely lovely! I enjoyed that it was quiet and out of the way - it is not close to any town and doesn't have the \"party\" vibe, but if you're looking for a nice place to relax, soak in the beach & snorkel/scuba dive, it's perfect! The staff were very friendly and helpful, and the dive center is located right at the hotel! Definitely recommend this place!

10/10

Exceptional

16 Jun 2018

Steve

Great place, wonderful people.

Great location for relaxing - well kept property with awesome view of ocean and Mnemba Island straight ahead, cool breeze, and very friendly and helpful staff. We had a family death and had to rebook and they were incredibly accommodating. Wifi was reasonable for Zanzibar (we didn't try to stream netflix or anything). Dive shop team are great and reasonably priced. Food was good and prices were reasonable (same as or less than other similar places in Zanzibar)

Partner

8/10

Excellent

18 Mar 2018

Nabil

The lodge is located in an amazing area. Staff were nice, food was good. However, it is a bit isolated, so you have no options for going around at low costs.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

28 Jan 2018

Mat

Ideal Vacation Location

Ideal stay for those of us that need to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Stayed for 3 nights the hotel staff were wonderful, hotel restaurant had a decent food & drinks menu, no internet connection and weak phone signal in the rooms so ideal to disconnect from work and life but you can find wifi by the bar, lots of water activities or just lay by the pool and do nothing kind of place, Loved it, also most importantly make sure you get a rental call its cheaper than taking a taxi to and from the hotel or moving around the island.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

21 Jan 2018

laura

Awesome hotel, super friendly staff

We stayed 2 nights and had a fantastic room with sea-view. Place is absolutely top-class, staff are really friendly and helpful, beach is very close and there's a pool too.
Restaurant is also very nice, on a big terrace
Be aware that the place is rather isolated so you won't be able to go \"for a stroll\" as no other restaurants or shops around - good for a couple of days but probably not much longer.
Also, it's pretty much on a cliff and to get to the beach you have to cycle, take a boat (when it's his tide) or ask for a lift...

Partner

8/10

Excellent

21 Dec 2017

Verified traveler

gorgeous but remote

A fantastic remote location- a real getaway! A dive centre on site with great instructors and hotel staff are friendly.
Some small issues to note:
- wifi is not great and phone reception v v limited.
-they charge 5% on all card transactions and there is no cash point so come prepared with dollars to settle your bill or account for the extra costs.
Not as much locally caught food on the menu as you might expect on the coast - always catch of the day and lobster but many other dishes are European (pastas etc) and difficult to go elsewhere for meals.
Having seen the half board menu on their notice board and eaten it one day I would recommend doing half board as the a la Carte menu can get pricey each day. Not quite as much variety on the menu but all nice food.
-The road to the lodge is badly affected by the wet season so be prepared for a bumpy 10 minutes of the journey but this adds to the feeling of remoteness. Bear it in mind though if you're planning excursions out as it's very remote and adds some time to the journey.

Positives- Breakfasts are lovely with lots of fresh fruit, pastries and cooked breakfasts
- diving is great
- Not having the white sandy beach right at the front of the hotel is actually an added bonus as you really get to see the tides and rock pools forming with lots of wildlife to look for each day.
-The view out to Nnemba is gorgeous - arguably better than the view they would have staying out on the island looking back at Zanzibar.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

02 Nov 2015

Expedia Relocation

A great place with great service - on the water

Don't be fooled by the name, \"lodge\" is not quite what it is. This small place has well appointed rooms in bungalows scattered around a nicely landscape natural garden, a nice pool, and the property gives on the beach. Very friendly service, great views, nice base for exploring the surrounding beaches. Very friendly service. On-site diving Center, with very friendly staff.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jun 2015

Renise

Paradise Retreat

Beautiful,new and isolated location with excellent staff.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

15 Nov 2014

Verified traveler

Lovely but difficult access

But for the need to spend 30 minutes on unmade road, 20 minutes of which is on a single vehicle very rough track which would be well suited to field testing ATVS, each time you want to go off and explore the island I would rate it higher. Unfortunately the local taxis are not 4x4s. As it is I feel that this journey isolates the hotel and presents a barrier to full enjoyment of a stay in Zanzibar. For those who simply want to spend the week diving at the PADI school on site, and for those whose ideal holiday comprises butt squatting eating and drinking then Sunshine Marine is a gem. The staff are really friendly and helpful and the setting/gardens are magnificent. Food is good and reasonably priced. The hotel is in an area where most people survive on subsistence farming and fishing so you see people in the sea fishing with nets from your balcony and a large fleet of small local trimaran fishing canoes are located on the beach nearby and the twice daily fishing flotilla passing by adds extra charm and a feeling of being in 'real Africa' - as does seeing people extracting and carrying their water from three wells located along the aforementioned track. Reef off Mnembe Island is excellent and very well stocked with fish despite the fact that a lot of fishing seems to take place on the reef. So, we enjoyed the stay at the hotel but did not see as much of Zanzibar as we had wished to do as the very uncomfortable access meant we limited our trips off site. Hotel 4.5/5 Access 1/5

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jun 2014

Emily

Wonderful stay at a relaxing and comfortable lodge

The Sunshine Marine Lodge is a great relaxation escape! The grounds and setting are beautiful and all the rooms enjoy great views. The restaurant is reasonably priced with attentive, polite staff and good food at all times of the day. We sampled a wide range of drinks from the bar which were great. There are plenty of places to relax like hammocks and loungers round the pool. Room furnishings are very comfortable compared to other places we stayed in Tanzania (although this was a higher price range than those others). The snorkelling trip to Mnemba atoll was well worth it even in the rougher weather and we swum with dolphins! We did walk to the beach at low tide and explored the rock pools but spent most of our time chilling out. Allow 3 nights or more as it is a reasonable trip from Stone Town. I recommend that most of your Zanzibar excursions are done from a Stone Town base and then you should come here mainly to relax.

10/10

Exceptional

13 Jun 2014

JamieShea

Paradise.

This resort was the perfect choice to end our 3 week trip! We loved the rooms, the views, the staff, and the food! The rooms were very clean, and quite large with a huge balcony/patio with amazing views of the ocean. The staff was very nice, espcially the waitstaff, bartenders, and the dive shop crew. The food- All fresh ingredients (fish caught that day), fresh fruit and fresh squeezed juices, and amazing pastries and desserts! Location- very secluded, and private. Not a place for crazy nightlife. However, you do get to meet the other people staying there due to the intimate setting of the resort, and the friendly atmosphere in the common areas. We went SCUBA diving and snorkelling, which entailed a very short boat ride to Mnemba Island, which can be seen from the resort. The dive equipment was all new, with great dive instructors. Just be aware that this resort is extremely remote. You can rent a bike (for free) to go to beaches nearby, but it is a hike to any sort of civilization. Also, make sure you contact the resort before you arrive to organize a ride from the airport/Stone town before you come. The location is miles (not an exaggeration) down a challenging dirt road (African Massage), with no road signs to follow. Overall, I cannot say enough good things about this resort! I HIGHLY recommed this place if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing place to enjoy the spectacular beauty of Zanzibar!

Family

8/10

Excellent

28 May 2014

Dawn

This is a beautiful spot if you want quiet and isolated white sands beach, which we did. It is at the end of an unbelievably long and rough road. So there is nowhere else to eat or buy food for a beach picnic except the hotel's restaurant. The food was pretty good and fresh and local. The managers were very nice but their billing was confusing, indicating the amount you were credited was the amount they billed hotels. Com which was less than we paid. They just need to make that clearer. The snorkeling folks were great. They have SCUBA too.

10/10

Exceptional

22 Apr 2014

Emma

Beautiful!

The road to the hotel really is difficult... Our taxi driver first took us to the Sunshine Lodge and then needed 'extra' to take us to the correct place. This was a poor start to the holiday - be VERY explicit when explaining your destination. However, once we arrived the horrors of the journey were quickly forgotten. The environment of the hotel is amazing - beautiful setting and very calm (apart from the noises of nature). The infinity pool next to the Indian Ocean is every bit as beautiful as it looks in the pictures, the rooms are large and well designed to be airy and comfortable. The restaurant sells a limited - but excellent - selection of different meals. This is proof enough that food is fresh as it changes daily. I went with the fish option every day and wasn't disappointed once. I spent 2 days diving with the dive school which shares the same location. Both beautiful days with a very caring dive team that really gave me the impression that nothing was too much and acted as excitedly as the tourists when we spotted a pod of dolphins. Overall, this was an increadible holiday and one I would recommend highly. The minor niggle on the 'room comfort' feedback doesn't reflect the fact that the manager had to come and remove a large crab from the bathroom (although he did!) but the fact the ceiling fan only had 2 speeds - off or turbo - so it was hard to make a balance between noise and temperature at night. Although I would still go back in a flash!

10/10

Exceptional

07 Apr 2014

Barbara

Wow! A perfect spot!

This hotel is truly a resort in the truest sense. The room, views, and food are perfect. The service was great. We loved biking on the free bikes to the local white sand beach, which you can also reach easily at low tide by walking. The only challenge is the bumpy road to get to this isolated, quiet spot. Also, the only food choice really is the restaurant, which serves delicious food but at USA prices. There is no air conditioning, but there is a ceiling fan and a little fan over the bed--an additional fan would have been helpful. We loved it. It was a perfect place to read, swim and sunbathe.

10/10

Exceptional

12 Jan 2014

Tabitha

Perfect Paradise location for R&R and diving

I was looking for a quiet get away spot after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to rest and relax and try my hand at diving. The Sunshine Marine Lodge was PERFECT for this. Amazing location, friendly staff. Definitely recommend!

10/10

Exceptional

05 Jan 2014

tbyh2owens

Great!

Just come back from our stay at Sunshine. It was fantastic,the rooms are great and the service is brilliant.
It's in a beautiful setting and has the added advantage of having a fantastic diving school attached - Divepoint.
All in all I can highly recommend this hotel and area.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

11 Mar 2026

Giuliano

Ottimo

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

13 Jan 2026

Agathe

Les piscines sont agréables et chaudes. Le spa est niché dans une cabane en hauteur. Les jardins sont extrêmement bien entretenus et agréables. La petite terrasse privative devant notre chambre géniale.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

25 Dec 2025

Kasper

Fantastiske og autentiske omgivelser.
Hyggelig pool område med bar og restaurant lige ved siden af.

Vi fik et hyggeligt og flot værelse med altan ud til vandet.

Personalet var yderst høflige og søde.

Desværre havde de ikke altid det hele på lager som de viste på deres menukort men vi blev mætte hver dag med godt og tilberedt mad.

Kan klart anbefalde stedet for dem som bare har brug for at koble af og slappe af i autentiske omgivelser.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

21 Dec 2025

Rene

Es war ein wunderbarer Aufenthalt in der Sunshine Marine Lodge. Das Zimmer war sehr geräumig und sauber und der direkte Blick aufs Meer grandios. Das Personal sehr aufmerksam.
Das Frühstück hat unsere Wünsche erfüllt.
Wir waren auch 2x im Hotel zum Dinner. Das Essen war wirklich sehr gut, das einzige was wir nicht so toll fanden, waren die doch im Vergleich teuren Preise. Das ist Schade.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

14 Dec 2025

luna

Tout était parfait

10/10

Exceptional

18 Oct 2024

Leon

Awesome quiet place!

8/10

Excellent

05 May 2024

Uta

Extremly isolated. No possibility to eat outside (without Taxi).

Daily power cuts, some of which lasted a long time. No air conditioning and no WLAN during this time. Bar and restaurant also affected.

The staff are very keen to maintain European standards, but are overzealous. Every plate is cleared away in a hurry, regardless of whether your partner is still eating or whether you want to keep your plate to have a snack.

Hotel pool was not cleaned separately in the morning. As a result, there were lots of dead insects floating in the pool.

Leisure Partner

4/10

Poor

07 Jan 2024

Verified traveler

Would never choose again

At first glance it looks as if this hotel is a quite calm luxurious hotel. But after staying here for 5days I would not say that luxury is the correct word. All in all we had 5 cockroaches (apart from other critters) in our room at different times. After the first night we told the reception and got the reply that they would try to fix it but that they really can’t because the hotel is located in a very green area. They sprayed a lot of bug spray in our room hoping that it would solve the issue at hand. Well, it didn’t. The door to the room had a glitch of maybe 3-4 cm at the bottom, that was the critter highway 1 to our room, the doors to the terrace where the same, a huge whole that just was another entrance for bugs of all sorts to enter our room. The room also had the bathroom window (not really a window, patterned holes in the wall with insect nets for coverage.) that was straight towards the stairs that other guest used to get to their rooms. So whenever you needed to go, you had to check so there wasn’t anyone outside that could peek in or just hear the sounds that can happen during a visit to the restroom.
Furthermore the hotel did not comunicate well, as an example, we were away on a trip all morning and back at the hotel at 12:30, a lot of time for the staff to clean. But they came and wanted to clean the room exactly when we got back and needed to change clothes. They had so much time to do this, but chose the worst possible time.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jun 2023

Heike

Man kann die sunshine marine lodge nur weiterempfehlen, man bekommt jeden Tag Wasser a und Kaffee - und Teebeutel, Wasserkocher vorhanden. Die Betten werden abends Mückensicher gemacht, das Menü für den ganzen Tag bekommt man aufs Handy mit den Ebbe und Flutdaten außerdem die Tagestemperaturen, fanden wir sehr gut!

10/10

Exceptional

10 Sep 2022

Julie

Honeymoon

Awesome time at the Sunshine!
Great food, impecable service, a peaceful place to enjoy Zanzibar. The hotel is beautiful and offers many services (spa, free yoga classes, diving school inside the hotel). We had an amazing time and we wished to have stayed longer. Everyone at the Sunshine helped us to enjoy this moment so Kudos to everyone!!

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

30 Jul 2022

Mette

Peaceful location

Beautiful and very peaceful stay. Friendly staff. Snorkeling trips organized every day. Bus to small nearby beach several times a day. Nice variety in food menu that changes every day. Would definitely stay here again.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

28 Dec 2021

Verified traveler

Le séjour était top. L’inconvénient est la literie. Le matelas est très dure et pas de climatisation dans la chambre c’est compliqué.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Nov 2021

Simon

Like paradise

Amazing. Great service, nice lodge and exceptionel location. Like paradise :)

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

21 Sep 2021

Agnès

Bel hôtel mais

Très bel hôtel et accueil charmant mais il est complètement isolé , pas de plage . Une voiture est obligatoire, Sinon obligées de manger au restaurant ou les prix sont prohibitifs . La journée est calme , voir trop calme et la nuit bruyante . Il n’y a pas de fenêtres , uniquement des persiennes , donc la nuit bruits des autres touristes et des singes

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

30 Jun 2021

Verified traveler

Buen servicio

Leisure Friends

8/10

Excellent

10 Feb 2021

Georg

Empfehlenswert

Die Lodge liegt wunderschön am Meer, Strand gibts beim Partnerhotel per kostenlosem Shuttle. Komfortabel, Küche recht gut

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

04 Sep 2019

Hans

Kleinschalige mooie lodge op prachtige locatie. Ideaal gesitueerd tegenover Mnemba Island, een duik en snorkelparadjs. Heerlijk eten, mooie huisjes en uiterst vriendelijke staf.

Leisure Partner