Honeymoon Guide
Zanzibar Honeymoon Itinerary: Seven or Ten Nights
Quick answer
What does a Zanzibar honeymoon look like, day by day?
A seven-night Zanzibar honeymoon at Matlai runs in three beats: two slow days to arrive and settle, three on the water and the island, and two days with nothing planned, then the flight home on day eight. Ten nights add a Stone Town day or night and two more beach days. The order follows the tide, which decides what the sea allows on a given morning.
The plan is for Boutique Hotel Matlai at Michamvi Pingwe: six rooms in two villas, half board included, 1h15–1h30 from the airport. The prices of the extras are in the tables, and the cost page adds them up for seven nights.
| Plan | Seven nights, day by day; ten nights as an option |
| Airport to the hotel | 1h15–1h30 by road, USD 60 per car each way |
| Check-in and check-out | 14:00 and 10:30 |
| The rhythm | Two slow days, three on the water and the island, two for nothing |
| What the tide decides | The sandbank, swimming and the order of days three and four |
| Booked a day ahead | Floating breakfast, seafood barbecue, cinema film by 15:00 |
| Packages | Named for 3–4, 5–6, 7–8 and 9–10 nights, bookable for any length |
| Last verified | 15 November 2026 |
The week at a glance
What does a seven-night honeymoon look like, day by day?
This is the week most couples settle into, written down. It assumes seven nights at the hotel and the flight home on day eight. The extras are spread out on purpose: one or two good evenings are worth more than one every night. If you are still deciding how long to stay, the how many days guide compares the lengths for the whole island.
| Day | What you do | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| 1, arrive | Land, drive 1h15–1h30, check in from 14:00, swim, dinner | Transfer USD 60 per car each way, paid to the driver's company. Dinner from 18:30, last orders 21:30. |
| 2, slow | Breakfast on your terrace, an afternoon at the spa, a candlelight dinner on the sand | Spa 09:00 to 18:00. Candlelight dinner TZS 156,000 per couple, booked before 14:00. |
| 3, tide day | The sandbank at low tide, kayaks, the beach | Check the tide table in your room. Swap with day four if the tide is wrong. |
| 4, by boat | Blue Lagoon and Starfish Beach in a village boat | About 2–2.5 hours, USD 70 for two in cash to the captain. |
| 5, nothing | Floating breakfast, the pool, games, the open-air cinema at night | Floating breakfast TZS 110,000, cinema TZS 125,000, both per couple. |
| 6, the west side | A sail around the peninsula to Michamvi Kae, drinks, a taxi back | USD 80 for two including the taxi back. Door fee at Kae Funk TZS 10,000. |
| 7, last night | The spa again, then a private seafood barbecue | Barbecue TZS 546,000 per couple, ordered a day ahead. |
| 8, leave | Breakfast, check out by 10:30, then the drive to the airport, with Stone Town on the way if you like | The departure day is the best day for Stone Town: leave in the morning, see the old town, then go on to the airport. Going straight there, leave about 3.5 hours before an international flight. |
Prices of extras are for a couple on half board, from the 2026 extras sheet; the boat prices are paid to the village captains, not to the hotel.
Why this order
Why is the week built in this order?
Three things shape it. The first is arrival: after a long journey the first day holds a swim and dinner, nothing more. The second is the tide: the east coast is not a lake, and the water in front of the hotel changes by the hour, so the two water days sit in the middle where you can swap them. The third is the extras. Most of what makes the photographs is charged on top of the room, and booked every night it turns into a routine.
So the plan puts one dinner, one breakfast and one evening each on three different days, and leaves two days with nothing booked. The downside is that a week like this is slow. If you want something every day, add the dolphin coast or a horse ride (the butler team can help with both) and drop a beach day.
Days 1 and 2
What should you do in the first two days?
Do very little. The hotel faces east, so the sun rises straight out of the ocean in front of your balcony, and breakfast is served from 07:00 to 12:00 wherever you like: on your own terrace, at a table in the garden or at the restaurant. The honeymoon hotel page shows the rooms and the villas.
The afternoon of day two is a good time for Bustani Spa: it has two massage beds side by side in the garden, so a couple can have a massage at the same time, and treatments last 30 to 60 minutes. The evening is the candlelight dinner on the sand at the beach entrance, with lanterns, and you choose from the whole kitchen: the chef's menu, the Zatiny menu and the Vietnamese menu of Duyên. See the restaurant page for what is cooked.
Days 3 to 5
What should you do on the water and on the beach?
Day three belongs to the tide. At low tide, below 1.20 m, the Mchanga sandbank shows up in front of the hotel. You swim across the short channel to reach it, or take one of the two hotel kayaks, which are free, when the water is higher. It is a well-known sandbank, not a private one: guests are sometimes alone there, but around full and new moon boats from neighbouring villages bring more people, and the current is strongest then. Ask the butler team for the best way in. The tides and swimming guide explains the cycle.
On day four a village boat takes you south to the Blue Lagoon for snorkelling and north to Starfish Beach, about 2–2.5 hours in all. The captain is from the village and confirms the time on the day. It costs USD 70 for two in cash, paid to the captain. Day five is for nothing: the floating breakfast is your normal breakfast on a tray in the pool, ordered the evening before, and the open-air cinema runs after dark.
Days 6 to 8
How do you end the week?
The hotel faces sunrise, so the sun goes down behind it. To see it over water, the butler team arranges a sail in a ngalawa, the local outrigger, around to Michamvi Kae, the west-facing side of the peninsula on Chwaka Bay. There is no direct road between the two sides, so the taxi back goes round by Jozani, and the price of USD 80 for two includes it. Kae Funk, the bar there, is known for sundown and charges TZS 10,000 at the door.
The last night is the seafood barbecue, with lobster, cigale de mer and jumbo prawns, ordered a day ahead. On day eight check-out is at 10:30. The departure day is also the best day for Stone Town; the airport transfer guide has the drive.
Ten nights
What changes with ten nights?
Ten nights add three things. The first is Stone Town: one day for the old town and the culture, about 1h15 each way and best on the day you leave, or a night there before the beach, because the old town is 15–20 minutes from the airport and spares you the long drive on the first evening. The Stone Town guide says what to see.
The second is the dolphin coast at Kizimkazi, about 45 minutes by taxi; read how to choose a boat that does not chase the animals first. The third is more of nothing: a second spa afternoon, or a horse ride with Royal Stable, which the butler team can help arrange.
Packages and season
Which package fits, and when should you go?
The nights in the package names (3–4, 5–6, 7–8 and 9–10) are only our suggestion for how to fill the days: each package is a fixed extra for two, it does not depend on the number of nights, and any package can be booked for any length of stay. The honeymoon package page lists what each holds, and several of the extras above are already inside the larger ones, so check before you add one separately.
The hotel closes for part of April and May; the dates are on the rooms and rates page. The best time to visit page has the months, and for a safari first, the safari honeymoon guide has the other half. The booking page shows the rate for your dates, and the guide to things to do around Michamvi fills spare days.
Good to know
Questions travellers ask
These are the planning questions couples ask us after they have chosen the dates.
How many nights should a Zanzibar honeymoon be?
Five nights is the least, and this plan assumes seven. The how-many-days guide compares stays of 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days for the whole island; with a 1h15–1h30 drive from the airport, a stay under four nights is mostly travelling.
What should we plan for the arrival day?
Nothing demanding. Check-in is from 14:00, the drive from the airport takes 1h15–1h30, and the kitchen serves dinner from 18:30 with last orders at 21:30, so a late arrival still gets dinner. Tell us your arrival time in advance and we can plan around it.
Is Stone Town worth adding to a honeymoon?
Yes, as one day for the old town and the culture, about 1h15 each way, or as a night before or after the beach. The best day is the departure day: leave in the morning, see Stone Town and go on to the airport, which is 15–20 minutes from the old town. A day in the middle of the stay means about 1h15 each way in the car.
What do we have to book in advance?
The floating breakfast and the private seafood barbecue one day ahead, the candlelight dinner with the butler team before 14:00 on the day, and the open-air cinema film by 15:00 (last showing 20:00). Spa treatments and boat trips are arranged through the butler team; the spa is open 09:00 to 18:00.
What does the tide change on the itinerary?
The sandbank in front of the hotel appears at low tide, below 1.20 m, so the day you swim out to it depends on the tide table in your room. If the tide is wrong on day three, swap it with day four; nothing else on the plan is tide-bound.
Is the east coast too quiet for a honeymoon?
The village at Michamvi Pingwe has no nightlife, and that is the point for most couples. For a bar you can go to Kae Funk on the sunset side of the peninsula, or to Paje, about 20–25 minutes away by taxi, for the full evening scene.
Your stay at Matlai
Choose your dates and the booking page opens with them, showing live availability.
Individually booked rooms take guests aged 14 and over; with a whole villa, guests of any age are welcome. Online booking here covers rooms for guests aged 14 and over, so for children or a whole villa send us your dates on WhatsApp and we reply with the options. WhatsApp →
These dates are by enquiry only — please email info[at]hotelmatlai.com or WhatsApp +255772628833 and we will confirm availability and rates.
Indicative public rates — the engine shows live availability for your dates.
Welcome drink, kayaks, bicycles and snorkelling gear, free of charge.
Booking with the hotel itself? Ask us what we can offer for your dates.
Why guests book Matlai
- A team of butlers on call, 07:00 to 22:00. One message and it is arranged.
- Half board with a chef’s menu that changes daily: three courses, plus two à la carte kitchens at every table, Zatiny (Indian Ocean fusion) and Duyên (Vietnamese).
- Dine where you like: in the restaurant, in the garden or on your own balcony. A private table by the beach or a candlelight dinner can be arranged at an extra charge.
- Six rooms in two villas, a pool for each villa, shared by its rooms, and every room facing the sunrise over the ocean.
- Bustani, the garden spa; the sandbank in front of the hotel at low tide; a quiet beach lined with small, family-owned hotels.
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