Zanzibar Fishing Villages: Dhow Building, Kizimkazi, Matemwe, and Nungwi

Most visitors experience Zanzibar through its resort beaches and Stone Town. The fishing villages exist on a different register: working communities organised around the sea, whose rhythms follow the tide and the catch rather than checkout times. Understanding how the island actually functions — before tourism, and still in large part alongside it — requires time in places where boats are repaired before dawn and catches are sorted on the beach by 07:00. These communities are accessible, photogenic, and, in many cases, genuinely hospitable to visitors who arrive with curiosity.

Why the fishing villages offer something different

The resort beaches of Zanzibar are organised around leisure: sun, water, food, rest. The fishing villages are organised around production — and the contrast is not subtle. At Matemwe, the village behind the resort strip sends outrigger canoes onto the reef flat at 04:30. At Jambiani, women are at work on the seaweed farms before the morning sun is high enough to make it uncomfortable. At Nungwi’s eastern beach, the sound of adzes on hardwood starts at first light. These are not staged cultural experiences. They are livelihoods.

Visiting requires small adjustments: earlier alarm calls, modest clothing, patience for a pace that is not organised around tourist comfort. What you get in return is a more honest picture of the island — and some of the most photogenic and unrepeatable moments available on Zanzibar.

Nungwi — the dhow-building capital

Nungwi is best known today as a beach resort destination, but it has been Zanzibar’s principal dhow-building centre for centuries. The eastern beach at Nungwi still has an active boatyard where traditional wooden vessels are constructed using techniques passed down through generations. This is not a demonstration or a museum: the boats in various stages of construction are working vessels, and the men building them are skilled craftsmen with years of specialist knowledge.

The main dhow types built at Nungwi:

• Jahazi: The large ocean-going dhow, used historically for inter-island and Arabian Sea trade. The stitched-plank construction technique — originally without metal nails — is the oldest method and produces a flexible hull well-suited to Indian Ocean swells.
• Mashua: A smaller planked vessel, common in Zanzibar coastal waters. Used for fishing and inter-island transport.
• Ngalawa: The double-outrigger canoe. The two outrigger arms extending from the central hull give stability on the shallow reef flats where larger vessels cannot operate. This is the primary fishing craft of the east coast villages.

The wood used in dhow construction has changed over time. Traditionally, African hardwoods from the mainland were preferred for their strength and durability. Today, builders work with mixed materials and may incorporate motor-engine fittings on vessels originally designed for sail. The craft tradition is genuinely alive, but under pressure: younger men who would previously have apprenticed with a master builder are more likely now to seek employment in the resort industry — more regular income, fewer physical risks.

To visit: The boatyard is at the eastern end of Nungwi beach. There is no formal entry fee or organised tour. Walk to the eastern beach before 08:00 — work is most active in the morning before the heat becomes prohibitive. Respectful observation is generally accepted. Ask before photographing individual workers. The craftsmen are not a performance; they are at work.

The Nungwi guide covers the full picture of the village — beach, accommodation, diving, restaurants, and how to navigate the resort strip.

Kizimkazi — dolphins and the oldest mosque in Zanzibar

Kizimkazi sits at the island’s southern tip and has two defining features that are as different from each other as it’s possible to imagine: a resident dolphin population in the bay, and a mosque containing the oldest known Islamic inscription in East Africa.

The dolphins: Two species are resident in Kizimkazi Bay year-round. Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) are the more common — named for their characteristic aerial behaviour, these are social animals that move in groups of 20 to 100 or more. Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea) are larger and slower, usually encountered alone or in small groups close to the coast. The best departure time for dolphin observation is 06:00–06:30, when the sea is calmest and the dolphins are transitioning from their resting state to active foraging. By mid-morning, sea conditions typically worsen and the dolphins become less visible.

The dolphin tourism at Kizimkazi is one of Zanzibar’s most popular activities and also one of its most ethically contested. The fundamental problem is that many operators still run trips that chase dolphins into their rest zones and encourage tourists to jump into pods. The documented effect — stress, disrupted feeding patterns, altered residency behaviour — has been studied in comparable populations worldwide. The pattern applies at Kizimkazi too.

Ethical guidelines are straightforward: no chasing, no touching, no feeding, and boats should not encircle a pod. The dolphins decide whether to approach. A good operator cuts the engine when dolphins come near and does not follow when they swim away. Ask before you book: “Is this observation or immersion?” Choose observation. One operator specifically cited for responsible practice by travellers is Dream Dhow — more expensive than alternatives, but the approach reflects the difference.

The mosque: The Kizimkazi Dimbani Mosque contains a Kufic inscription dated 1107 CE, making it the oldest known Islamic inscription in East Africa. The mosque is a Shirazi-period structure, associated with the Persian-origin ruling class that dominated the Swahili coast before the arrival of Portuguese and then Arab Omani power. It is still an active place of worship. Visits outside prayer times are welcome. Dress modestly (shoulders and knees covered, shoes removed). A caretaker on site explains the history of the inscription and the building. Donation: USD 5–10. Interior photography: ask first.

The Kizimkazi guide covers the full dolphin tour experience, operator ethics, the mosque, and day-trip logistics in detail.

Matemwe — ngalawa at dawn

Matemwe on the northeast coast is primarily known among tourists for its beach and diving access to Mnemba Atoll. The village behind the resort strip is a different place: one of the east coast’s most active fishing communities, where the ngalawa — the traditional double-outrigger canoe — is the primary working craft.

The ngalawa is one of the defining vessels of the Swahili coast. A narrow dugout hull, traditionally carved from a single mango or mvule tree trunk, with two outrigger arms extending to floats on each side. The outrigger configuration gives the boat the lateral stability needed to work the shallow reef flats where larger vessels would ground out. It is not fast, and it is not comfortable in any resort-brochure sense. It is a precise tool for a specific environment, and Matemwe’s fishermen use it with considerable skill.

The departure is between 04:00 and 05:00. By this time the reef flat is in darkness and the water is at a state that the fishermen read — current, tide, wind — before they set out. The return, with catch, is typically by 07:00 to 08:00, timed to coincide with the light coming up behind the reef.

If you want to see this: walk to the village beach — not the resort beach — before 07:00. Six or eight ngalawa coming in at the same time, in that particular flat gold light of the east-coast dawn, with the reef behind them and the catch being sorted on the tideline, is one of the genuinely unrepeatable photographic moments on Zanzibar. There is no entry fee. There is no organised tour. You are simply on a public beach watching people finish their working morning.

Fish from the Matemwe reef system include grouper, red snapper, parrotfish, and rabbitfish. Octopus is an important catch on the reef flat and is harvested by hand at low tide — a practice associated particularly with women in the east coast villages. Zanzibar’s periodic temporary octopus fishery closures have produced documented positive economic benefits for the communities that use them: a closed area, reopened after a recovery period, yields measurably higher octopus density than continuously-fished reef flat.

Jambiani — fishing and seaweed side by side

Jambiani on the southeast coast is perhaps the clearest example of a fishing community that has diversified without abandoning its original economy. Fishing remains central, but seaweed farming — covered in detail in the Zanzibar seaweed farming guide — has become an equally important income source, particularly for women. The combination makes Jambiani economically active across multiple points in the day: fishermen leave at dawn, seaweed farmers work the reef flat at low tide, guesthouses and local restaurants operate through the afternoon and evening.

The Mwani Mamas, a women’s seaweed farming group based in Jambiani, represent the economic logic of this diversification clearly: members earn USD 250–300 per month from Eucheuma seaweed farming — a level of regular independent income that was not available to coastal women before the industry established itself in the 1980s.

The village fish market at Jambiani operates in the morning when the boats return — not a curated visitor experience, but not closed to visitors either. Fish prices here are substantially lower than in Stone Town, and local restaurants source directly from this market. Walking through when it is active gives a clearer picture of the east coast fishing economy than anything available in the resort areas.

The combination of fishing, seaweed farming, and low-key guesthouse tourism makes Jambiani one of the most economically legible villages on the east coast — a useful counterpoint to the resort-only experience of Paje to the north.

Malindi fish market — Stone Town

The largest and most varied fish market on Zanzibar is at Malindi, near the harbour in Stone Town. The market begins when the night-fishing boats return — often from around 04:00 — and winds down by mid-morning when the best fish has been sold and the heat makes extended trading difficult.

Arrive before 07:00. The full range of Indian Ocean catch is on display in that window: yellow-fin tuna in sizes that require two men to carry, kingfish (wahoo), barracuda, grouper, red snapper, octopus by the pile, squid and cuttlefish, seasonal lobster, prawns, crab. The market is loud, wet-floored, and dense with smell and noise. It is not designed for tourists, which is precisely why it is worth visiting.

What the Malindi market shows, more clearly than any visitor attraction, is the scale and variety of Zanzibar’s fishing economy. The vessels supplying this market range from small inshore ngalawa working the reef flat to larger motorised boats that go offshore for pelagic species. The buyers are Stone Town restaurants, hotel purchasing managers, and individual shoppers. The transaction is direct and fast.

Practical: dress for a working market (closed shoes, clothes that can get wet or marked). A basic camera or phone in a pocket is fine; a tripod or large camera bag is not the right tool here. Spend some time watching before photographing — get a sense of the rhythm before pointing a lens at individual traders.

What’s changing — pressure on the fishing economy

Zanzibar’s fishing communities are working under several simultaneous pressures, some economic and some ecological.

Tourism employment pull. A young man in a coastal fishing village now has options his grandfather did not. Resort employment — as a guide, boat hand, waiter, or instructor — pays more reliably and involves less physical risk than artisanal fishing. The generational shift is real and is accelerating near the major resort clusters, particularly around Nungwi and Paje. This is not a straightforward loss: higher income is higher income. But it affects both fishing labour supply and the transmission of craft knowledge.

Dhow-building knowledge. The specific knowledge required to build a traditional wooden dhow — joint-making, hull-shaping, wood selection, reading the characteristics of individual timber — sits with a generation of master builders who are aging. Apprenticeship requires years of proximity to a master builder. The economic pull of the resort industry makes that apprenticeship less likely for the most capable young men. The dhow tradition at Nungwi is alive, but the knowledge base is narrowing.

Reef pressure and overfishing. Fish abundance on reefs near tourist-heavy coastlines has declined under combined pressure from increased fishing effort and coral degradation from warming seas, bleaching events, and anchor or net damage. The pattern documented on Pemba’s western reefs — significant fish abundance decline between 2009 and 2019 — is a regional signal, not an isolated case.

Octopus management responses. Some east coast communities have responded with temporary fishing closures — closing a reef area for a period to allow recovery, then reopening. These closures have produced documented positive economic benefits for the communities that use them. They are a practical, community-managed approach to the overfishing problem, and they represent one of the more effective conservation responses currently operating in Zanzibar.

Climate effects. Sea temperature changes affect coral (which forms the fish habitat), which in turn affects reef fish stocks. The Indian Ocean warming trend has driven bleaching events across the Zanzibar reef system in recent years. This is a long-term structural pressure on the entire reef fishing economy, not a problem that local management alone can address.

A pre-dawn ngalawa trip at Matemwe

I was staying at a small guesthouse in Matemwe when a local fisherman offered to take me out for the pre-dawn run. We left at 04:30 in a ngalawa, paddled through the reef flat in darkness, and fished the outer reef by lamplight for about two hours. I caught nothing useful. He caught three grouper and two octopus.

By the time we came back the light was coming up behind the reef — all that orange and gold sitting on flat water — and there were six other ngalawa coming in at the same time. We all beached at the same point on the village beach. He sold the octopus before we had even cleared the tideline. He made more in those two hours than I would have expected, given what I knew of fishing income in the villages. He said it was a bad morning.

That gap — between what I thought was a good catch and what he considered a bad one — is the most useful piece of information I’ve come back with from any fishing village on the island. It recalibrates expectations quickly.

Related guides

• Nungwi guide — beach, diving, dhow sunset cruises, and the full resort context
• Kizimkazi guide — dolphin tour ethics and logistics, the 1107 CE mosque, southern Zanzibar
• Zanzibar seaweed farming — the east coast women’s economy explained
• East coast guide — Matemwe, Jambiani, Paje: the full picture of the eastern shoreline
• Responsible travel in Zanzibar — how to visit ethically across all contexts