BAWE ISLAND · ZANZIBAR

Bawe Island Zanzibar

Bawe Island is a private island roughly ten kilometres off Stone Town, opened in 2024 by the Cocoon Collection as the only resort on a small coral island. Seventy villas are spread across the 30-hectare island, every one with a private pool and butler service, ranging from beachfront Zanzibar Villas to over-water Lagoon Suites and, at the top, a two-storey Sultan Palace. A marine reserve now encircles the entire island, protecting the reef and the fish life that make the snorkelling and diving so good. It is seclusion of the rarest kind, a whole island for a single small resort.

Why it's on the list

The appeal is simple and rare: your own coral island, fifteen minutes from Stone Town yet utterly private. Every villa has a pool and a butler, the new private suites and over-water lagoon villas are spacious and beautifully finished, and the marine reserve around the island means the reef is both pristine and protected. As one of the newest luxury openings in Zanzibar, it brings fresh, contemporary villas and a genuine private-island experience to within easy reach of the city and the airport, which almost no other Zanzibar address can claim.

How to get there

Bawe is reached from Stone Town by a roughly 15-minute speedboat transfer, with helicopter transfers also available; from Zanzibar's Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ), guests continue by boat or helicopter to the island. The resort coordinates the transfer, and the short crossing makes Bawe far more accessible than its private-island seclusion suggests.

Nearest airport

Abeid Amani Karume International (ZNZ)

Drive time

~15 min by speedboat from Stone Town

Dining

On the property

Dining is on the island, including private in-villa dining with a personal chef on request, alongside the resort's restaurants and bars. The setting, on a small coral island ringed by its own marine reserve, lends itself to fresh seafood and long, private meals by the water.

Nearby

Dining is on the resort. Bawe is a private island with no local restaurant scene, though its proximity to Stone Town (about 15 minutes by boat) makes a day trip to the old town's markets and restaurants easy to arrange.

What guests say

As one of Zanzibar's newest luxury openings, Bawe is praised for the exclusivity of having a whole coral island to a single resort, the private-pool villas and over-water lagoon suites, and the quality of the snorkelling and diving over its protected reef. The butler and in-villa dining draw early acclaim. As a recently opened property, it is worth setting expectations as for any new resort, while the rare combination of true private-island seclusion and a quick hop from Stone Town is its standout draw.

Summarised from guest reviews across TripAdvisor, Booking.com and published hotel reviews.

Good to know

Seventy private-pool villas on a private coral island ringed by its own marine reserve, about 15 minutes by boat from Stone Town. Zanzibar's drier months, June to October and December to February, are best for the sea and snorkelling; avoid the long rains of March to May.

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