Any experience of Pemba Island, Tanzania?

[Jake899]

I'm off for six weeks to Dar Es Salaam at the end of October. Staying with friends and catching up with folks from back when we used to live there. We have already visited Unguja (which everyone knows as Zanzibar) but we have not visited the northerly island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, Pemba.
Anyone got any tips/experiences to share?

[AB]

I can't really add much to the thread as it was 2003 when I went but I'm jealous!

From memory, beautiful beaches, incredible snorkelling, unrivalled relaxation. It may have changed but totally different from smelly Dar

Visited as part of my gap year which included Zanzibar and the worst bus journey ever from Dar to Arusha for a safari!

[parabolica]

Been 10 years since I spent a year working there and I did take a trip to Pemba, but don’t remember much apart from it being very pretty (someone else arranged and I just tagged along). Apparently Dar is quite different today compared to 2014, with a new airport and new road onto the peninsula. Would be interested to go back sometime.

[Jake899]

AB said:

I can't really add much to the thread as it was 2003 when I went but I'm jealous!

From memory, beautiful beaches, incredible snorkelling, unrivalled relaxation. It may have changed but totally different from smelly Dar

Visited as part of my gap year which included Zanzibar and the worst bus journey ever from Dar to Arusha for a safari!

Just looking on Googlemaps shows how much Dar has grown. 13 years ago Mbezi/Africana was kind of the northern suburb, now the city looks to stretch far beyond that in all directions. We're stoked for the snorkelling. The plan may be to go on the ferry from Tanga but ive got so many horrendous experiences of long bus rides in East Africa that im gonna try to persuade our crew to just fly from Dar!