Matemwe Bungalows or Pongwe Beach Hotel?
May 29th, 2007, 04:46 PM
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Matemwe Bungalows or Pongwe Beach Hotel?
Hi Everyone - Ok, I have finally narrowed down my Zanzibar resort options to Matemwe Bungalows or Pongwe Beach Hotel, but I can't decide which one to choose??!!
I am going with my husband in September for 3-4 days at the tail end of our Kenya/Tanzania safari. We are looking for an authentic Zanzibar beach experience with a bit of pampering, a beautiful beach, good food, and a "Zanzibari" feel....
Any advice? How is the beach at Matemwe Bungalows? I am a big beach person...(I usually don't go swimming in the ocean, but I love a beautiful beach with a nice stretch of sand where I can wade in the water and dip my feet in!)
Any other feedback on which may be a better choice for us? Thank you!!
I am going with my husband in September for 3-4 days at the tail end of our Kenya/Tanzania safari. We are looking for an authentic Zanzibar beach experience with a bit of pampering, a beautiful beach, good food, and a "Zanzibari" feel....
Any advice? How is the beach at Matemwe Bungalows? I am a big beach person...(I usually don't go swimming in the ocean, but I love a beautiful beach with a nice stretch of sand where I can wade in the water and dip my feet in!)
Any other feedback on which may be a better choice for us? Thank you!!
May 30th, 2007, 12:14 PM
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I haven't been to Matemwe, but enjoyed my stay at Pongwe. The beach is quite beautiful and the food is superb. There is no air conditioning in their bungalows, however, so ask for a beachfront bungalow to take advantage of the sea breezes. They have a couple that are set back off the beach, which is where we stayed, and they were rather hot at night.
May 30th, 2007, 05:29 PM
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Thanks ShayTay - how is the pool at Pongwe? From the pics I've seen, it looks like a small wading pool?? Just curious...Also, how is the safety/security on the beach at night at Pongwe? I've read various threads on Fodors from people who say you really have to be careful on the beach at night in Zanzibar. Seems like the Kiwengwa area is infamous for muggings, etc, but certain resorts have better security than others. Again, just curious....
Also, any additional feedback on Matemwe vs.Pongwe is much appreciated. Thanks!
Also, any additional feedback on Matemwe vs.Pongwe is much appreciated. Thanks!
May 31st, 2007, 04:54 PM
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The pool has been added since I was there. I didn't miss having one, as the bay is shallow and wonderfully warm in the afternoons.
I never felt unsafe on the beach. There were a few locals that walked by on the beach, but they never bothered us. The hotel had Maasai guards on the beach, just in case there was a problem, though.
I never felt unsafe on the beach. There were a few locals that walked by on the beach, but they never bothered us. The hotel had Maasai guards on the beach, just in case there was a problem, though.
Jun 1st, 2007, 06:30 AM
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We stayed at Matemwe Bungalows for 3 nights, and thought it was great. Wonderful rooms, lovely walkways and grounds, good food, good service, lovely views from the rooms. I don't exactly know what an "authentic Zanzibar beach experience" is, but there is a bit of pampering, a nice beach, and good food. No A/C, but ceiling fans and usually a nice ocean breeze.
All of the 12 bungalows are on a promontory, about 15 feet high, with a large covered porch (with a hammock) looking eastward over the Indian Ocean towards Mnemba Island. The east coast of Zanzibar is very tidal, so sometimes there is a beach below the promontory, sometimes waves are crashing against it. At the end of the resort just south of the common areas (about a 3-minute walk from our bungalow) there is a long beach with lots of fishing boats anchored along it, except sometimes at highest tide the water covers almost all of the beach. So during low tide there is a very wide beach, during high tide not so much. This beach is essentially adjacent to the local fishing village, and sometimes children will approach you, but we never felt in any danger while on the beach during the day (didn't really go there after dark). We saw very few people actually swimming in the ocean (not much surf really), the bottom (at low tide) has a lot of rocky areas and supposedly some sea urchins if you go too far out. But you can certainly wade in the water, which is of course crystal clear and various beautiful shades of green and blue. There are lounging chairs under thatch on the back side of the beach near the "tree line." During low tide you can walk on the fairly narrow strip of beach below the bungalows, by accessing this strip just past the common areas.
There are two pools, and although one is fine, the other is in a spectacular location, about 20 feet above the ocean with an "infinity view" out towards the east. Of the 12 bungalows, I think only about 6 were occupied when we were there, so it was very uncrowded.
If you want to see some pictures of Matemwe Bungalows, you can go to (if this translates when posted)
http://tinyurl dot com/38a8zl
and scroll towards the back end.
Hope this helps. Wherever you stay, do a snorkeling trip. If you want a much longer description of our time there, you can do a search under "hguy47" and look for "Tanzania Safari Diary" (sorry, I don't know how to put a link to that) and scroll very, very far down.
All of the 12 bungalows are on a promontory, about 15 feet high, with a large covered porch (with a hammock) looking eastward over the Indian Ocean towards Mnemba Island. The east coast of Zanzibar is very tidal, so sometimes there is a beach below the promontory, sometimes waves are crashing against it. At the end of the resort just south of the common areas (about a 3-minute walk from our bungalow) there is a long beach with lots of fishing boats anchored along it, except sometimes at highest tide the water covers almost all of the beach. So during low tide there is a very wide beach, during high tide not so much. This beach is essentially adjacent to the local fishing village, and sometimes children will approach you, but we never felt in any danger while on the beach during the day (didn't really go there after dark). We saw very few people actually swimming in the ocean (not much surf really), the bottom (at low tide) has a lot of rocky areas and supposedly some sea urchins if you go too far out. But you can certainly wade in the water, which is of course crystal clear and various beautiful shades of green and blue. There are lounging chairs under thatch on the back side of the beach near the "tree line." During low tide you can walk on the fairly narrow strip of beach below the bungalows, by accessing this strip just past the common areas.
There are two pools, and although one is fine, the other is in a spectacular location, about 20 feet above the ocean with an "infinity view" out towards the east. Of the 12 bungalows, I think only about 6 were occupied when we were there, so it was very uncrowded.
If you want to see some pictures of Matemwe Bungalows, you can go to (if this translates when posted)
http://tinyurl dot com/38a8zl
and scroll towards the back end.
Hope this helps. Wherever you stay, do a snorkeling trip. If you want a much longer description of our time there, you can do a search under "hguy47" and look for "Tanzania Safari Diary" (sorry, I don't know how to put a link to that) and scroll very, very far down.
Jun 1st, 2007, 03:10 PM
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Hi Everyone - Thanks so much for your replies!! This is a tough one...I wish Matemwe had Pongwe's beach and then it would be perfect for me. I am such a big beach person...Still deciding, but thanks so much for the feedback!
Jun 7th, 2007, 03:45 PM
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I have a similar question to lmavolio. Any feedback on how the beaches compare at Matemwe vs Pongwe? I see Climbhighsleeplow ranks Pongwe as a top 5 beach in Zanzibar. With that in mind, how "bad" is the Matemwe beach?
