Laba Fanjove Private Island

The exclusivity of a private island

Country

Tanzania

Regions

Iles privées

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À vivre

Fanjove belongs to the Songo Songo Archipelago, south of Dar es Salaam. Only five islands, the southernmost of which, Fanjove and Jewe, seem to have been forgotten by the rest of the world. An hour’s flight from Dar es Salaam, followed by about forty minutes by traditional dhow — the journey itself hints at what awaits.

The island is small, deliberately exclusive. Sixteen beach villas, an old lighthouse, white sand, and the ocean. Little else. The single-storey villas are spread along the shoreline with enough space between them that each guest feels the island is their own. The comfort is real, the elegance understated — no effect, no display.
Fanjove offers not a programme but a distancing: from noise, from pace, from screens, from obligations.
Here, time does not speed up. It simply returns to its natural shape.

Layout

From Songo Songo airport, a uniquely designed tuk tuk is used to take guests to the boat station, from where the boat transfer to Fanjove Island takes 20 to 40 minutes (depending on the type of boat used).
The island is only about 1 km long, half of it ringed by beaches. An 11 km-long coral reef shields the east side of the island from heavy swells. Sea swimming is ideal at high tide, but the water recedes at low tide, exposing most of the reef.

The lodge’s main building was built near a lighthouse constructed by the Germans in 1894. From there, the beach stretches around the island’s southern tip to where the coral reef begins. The lighthouse has been renovated and extended with a large veranda, and now serves as a restaurant with a beach lounge. It is the ideal spot on the island to watch the sunset and start the evening with a cocktail.

Sixteen beach villas line the sandy shore with direct beach access, on the east side of the island, in close harmony with their surroundings. The villas were built exclusively from natural materials such as wood, thatch and palm leaves (mokuti), with carefully refined interior décor. The attached, open-air bathroom sits at the back of the villa and includes two outdoor showers and two basins. In total, you have 132 m² of living space plus an additional outdoor pavilion with two sun loungers.
Each villa is open at the front for uninterrupted ocean views.

The whole property was designed to minimize its environmental footprint.
Solar power is used throughout, and the buildings are made with traditional, natural materials — sustainable timber, makuti (palm leaves) and thatch.

For your children

Children are welcome from the age of 6.

Rooms

Sixteen beach villas are spaced apart to preserve privacy, so guests feel almost alone on the island. Very spacious, they offer an en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers.

Activities offered

The hotel has a gym and an activities centre providing equipment for scuba diving and snorkeling. Diving is probably best from November to March, when the north-east monsoon (Kaskazi) blows more gently, with smaller waves and better underwater visibility. There is a good reef right in front of the lodge, easily accessible from the beach.

A walk around the island at low tide takes a little over an hour. Kayaks and SUPs are also available.
The island is home to remarkable marine wildlife, including green turtles, spinner dolphins and humpback dolphins, a multitude of tropical fish, and humpback whales passing through from mid-July to mid-October.
Dolphins regularly frequent the waters around the island. The lodge organises early-morning boat trips in search of dolphins (marine safaris).
Fanjove Island is also a nesting site for the green turtle, an endangered species. They lay their eggs mainly around March, and hatching takes place in May/June.

On land, there is a small but significant population of giant coconut crabs, which climb palm trees in search of coconuts, while thousands of hermit crabs comb the beaches. Weaver birds, egrets and herons reside on the island, while crab plovers, peregrine falcons, ruddy turnstones and many others are regular visitors. The main season for migratory birds is from November to March.

Seasons

J F M A M J J A S O N D

Season not possible
Season to avoid
Good season
Very good season
Optimal season

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