Rooms and occupancy
70 independent pool villas — Sunrise Villa (~200 sqm), Sunset Suite (~240 sqm), Lagoon Suite, two-bedroom Zanzibar Villa (~310 sqm), three-bedroom Sultan Palace (~500 sqm); all with private pool and butler service
Private island resort · Zanzibar
Bawe Island, Bawe Island (off Stone Town), Zanzibar
Bawe Island (off Stone Town), Zanzibar
Overview
Africa’s first one-island-one-resort address — 70 pool villas on a 30-hectare private island fifteen minutes by speedboat from Stone Town. Cocoon Collection ultra-luxury: Sunrise Villas, Sunset Suites, lagoon overwater suites, beachfront Zanzibar Villas and the Sultan Palace for the top of the rooming list. Every villa has a private pool and butler; helicopter pad for scenic transfers. The buy-out we brief for VIP and leadership lists when Mnemba is too small and the brief still wants Indian Ocean privacy with Stone Town access. Not for 200-person dealer awards.
We brief Bawe Island as part of a meeting, incentive, conference or executive retreat — not as a consumer hotel checkout. Availability is on request from the Arusha desk, with Nairobi and Mauritius covering hub and island programmes.
Location
Bawe Island sits in Bawe Island (off Stone Town), Zanzibar, Zanzibar, Tanzania. There is often no street address in the bush — the pin is the property name, the airstrip, or the hotel road in town.
Map of Bawe Island.
Airports and access
- About 30 minutes by road from ZNZ to Stone Town, then ~15 minutes by resort speedboat; helicopter transfer on request
- Abeid Amani Karume International (ZNZ): Direct international plus short hops from JRO, ARK, DAR and NBO
Nearby programmes
- Stone Town walking programme · Half day
- Spice farm, done properly · Half day
- Dhow sunset and seafood · Evening
- Mnemba atoll snorkel · Half day
- Jozani forest and village · Half day
Accommodation details
Occupancy limits
Occupancy follows the inventory above: sharing versus single is the usual swing on a MICE rooming list.
Bed configurations
Doubles, twins and singles as the property actually holds them — we collect the rooming list before we lock the block. We do not invent a suite mix the lodge has not confirmed.
Room sizes
Published square metres are a consumer-hotel spec. We brief the category — tent, suite, villa or room — and any ground-floor or interconnecting need in the annex.
A closed working session can sit here if the rooming list fits. A slide-heavy plenary still belongs in the city or on a beach resort that already has AV.
Services and amenities
What we actually brief for this stay. Paid extras, spa hours and meeting-room AV are confirmed in the proposal — not as a consumer extras menu.
Wi-Fi & connectivity
- — Complimentary Wi-Fi
Pool, spa & gym
- — 70 villas each with private pool
- — Spa and wellness
- — 70 pool villas
Restaurant & bar
- — Dedicated butler per villa
- — Restaurants and in-villa dining with chef on demand
- — Butler every villa
Parking & transfers
- — Speedboat transfer from Stone Town (~15 minutes)
- — About 30 minutes by road from ZNZ to Stone Town, then ~15 minutes by resort speedboat; helicopter transfer on request
On property
- — Private island — 30 hectares
- — Helicopter landing platform
- — Water sports and pristine house reef
- — Private island buy-out
- — 15 min from Stone Town
- — Cocoon Collection
Photo gallery
Overview, main area, suites, restaurants and bar, pool, and experiences.
Policies
Check-in and check-out
Hotel hours are confirmed when we contract the block. Typical city and beach houses use afternoon check-in and late-morning check-out; we request early or late as the diary needs it, subject to the hotel.
Cancellation
Cancellation follows the programme contract and the supplier behind this stay — not a one-line website percentage. Peak safari, gorilla lodges and island peak are the least flexible lines. Force majeure and airstrip clauses sit in the annex.
Children
Family rooms and interconnecting stock are requested with the rooming list. Age rules, cots and extra beds are confirmed with the hotel — not assumed from a brochure.
Pets
Not for MICE rooming lists unless the property and the brief both say otherwise. Service animals are a named conversation, not a website toggle.
Payment
Payment is through Serengeti Experience DMC as part of the programme invoice: a confirmation deposit to hold the block, staged supplier payments, and a final payment before arrival. This is not a consumer booking engine and we do not take card payments on this page.
Other terms
Bawe Island is contracted subject to availability. Park fees, conservancy fees, gorilla permits and internal air are separate lines unless the proposal says they are included.
Planner notes
We do not publish star ratings or scraped guest reviews. Fit is scale, access and the operations annex — not a 4.8 average that we did not collect.
Africa’s first one-island-one-resort address — 70 pool villas on a 30-hectare private island fifteen minutes by speedboat from Stone Town. Cocoon Collection ultra-luxury: Sunrise Villas, Sunset Suites, lagoon overwater suites, beachfront Zanzibar Villas and the Sultan Palace for the top of the rooming list. Every villa has a private pool and butler; helicopter pad for scenic transfers. The buy-out we brief for VIP and leadership lists when Mnemba is too small and the brief still wants Indian Ocean privacy with Stone Town access. Not for 200-person dealer awards.
Programmes we brief with this stay
FAQs
How do groups reach Bawe Island?
About 30 minutes by road from ZNZ to Stone Town, then ~15 minutes by resort speedboat; helicopter transfer on request Zanzibar airports we actually use: Abeid Amani Karume International (ZNZ) — Direct international plus short hops from JRO, ARK, DAR and NBO
Can we hold a meeting at Bawe Island?
A closed working session can sit here if the rooming list fits. Slide-heavy plenary belongs in Zanzibar city or beach inventory. Africa’s first one-island-one-resort address — 70 pool villas on a 30-hectare private island fifteen minutes by speedboat from Stone Town. Cocoon Collection ultra-luxury: Sunrise Villas, Sunset Suites, lagoon overwater suites, beachfront Zanzibar Villas and the Sultan Palace for the top of the rooming list. Every villa has a private pool and butler; helicopter pad for scenic transfers. The buy-out we brief for VIP and leadership lists when Mnemba is too small and the brief still wants Indian Ocean privacy with Stone Town access. Not for 200-person dealer awards.
When should we contract Bawe Island?
June–October and January–February are the incentive defaults. Avoid the long rains unless the rate story is the brief. Flagship safari and gorilla inventory still wants 12–18 months. City board nights can often be placed in 6–9 months.
Do you publish a nightly rate for Bawe Island?
No. Availability and the commercial are on request through Serengeti Experience DMC as part of a meetings, incentive, conference or retreat programme. We will not invent a website price the lodge then contradicts.
Can we book Bawe Island without a MICE programme?
This page is for incentive houses, corporate travel buyers and event planners contracting through Serengeti Experience DMC. We confirm the block, the rooming list and the operations annex together.
Can we buy out Bawe Island for a leadership group?
Yes, at villa scale — seventy pool villas suit a partial or full buy-out for VIP and EXCO lists. We contract speedboat windows, meal timings and villa tiering explicitly; helicopter is optional, not default.
How do guests reach Bawe Island from the airport?
Typically road to Stone Town (~30 minutes from ZNZ) then resort speedboat (~15 minutes). We do not schedule a gala on the same evening as long-haul arrival.
Does Bawe Island have conference facilities?
The product is villa privacy, beach and F&B — not a city hotel ballroom. Small board setups can use villa living spaces or private dining; large plenaries belong elsewhere.
Do we need yellow fever certificates for Zanzibar?
Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zanzibar require a yellow fever vaccination certificate upon arrival. We collect it with passports on the rooming list — do not leave it to the airport queue.
Do guests need Zanzibar inbound travel insurance?
Zanzibar requires all non-resident foreign visitors to purchase mandatory inbound travel insurance issued exclusively by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC). Buy it online before travel at https://inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz/
