Bwejuu Beach runs long and quiet along Zanzibar’s southeast coast, a stretch of white sand held behind coconut palms and bougainvillea, and Breezes Beach Club & Spa lies the length of it. The barrier reef breaks about a kilometre offshore. When the tide drops the lagoon empties into rock pools of starfish, sea urchins, crabs and juvenile reef fish, and local guides walk guests out to see them.
Bwejuu Beach runs long and quiet along Zanzibar’s southeast coast
Swimming, kitesurfing and sailing wait for the high water, and the days take their shape from that. The Rising Sun Dive Centre, a PADI five-star Gold Palm operation, works fourteen dive sites within reach. Groups are capped at six divers to a guide, so a beginner gets much the same attention as someone with hundreds of dives behind them.
Nathalie Raguž Fusillo and Paulina Raguž Macksoud opened Breezes in 1997. Both had trained in hotel management at Cornell, and Paulina drew the buildings and the furniture herself. Zanzibari craftsmen carved the teak to her sketches. Their father had first come to the island in 1991, and left convinced that this coast deserved something built slowly and locally.
Zanzibari craftsmen carved the teak to her sketches.
What they built reads as Swahili-Omani plantation architecture. Makuti thatch is pitched high over open-sided public rooms, and coral stone and Arabian archways frame brass lanterns and hand-carved teak against ivory and sand tones. Guest cottages rise no more than two storeys through gardens of bougainvillea and hibiscus. The family owns and runs it still, alongside sister properties on the same coast.
Breakfast and dinner belong to the Salama dining room, thatched and open on all sides, a buffet in the morning and four courses at night, with Swahili, barbecue, spices and trade winds evenings through the week and long trousers for the men after dark. Lunch moves down to the Breakers Grill, where it is served on the sand beside an open barbecue and a tandoori oven. The Sultan’s Table looks over the ocean and leans on Swahili-Indian spicing. The Tides is a single table on the sand, laid for two.
Evenings start at the candlelit Safari Bar, with soft jazz before dinner. The poolside bar counter is built from an old wooden dhow, and behind silk drapes and beaded cushions the Baraza Bar keeps whiskies, cigars and shisha. Cloves and cinnamon carry across from the open kitchens, frangipani from the spa. Earlier, the Chai Lounge handles the slow afternoon hours with teas, coffee and cake. Nights are quiet, palm fronds turning in the monsoon wind and the reef breaking a kilometre offshore.
Cloves and cinnamon carry across from the open kitchens, frangipani from the spa.
Beyond the water sports, the land side is a floodlit tennis court, a gym and beach volleyball, with bicycles for the flat ride four kilometres south to Bwejuu village and on to Paje. Swahili lessons, palm weaving and spice cooking classes run at Breezes itself. Half an hour inland, Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park protects the Zanzibar red colobus, endemic to the island, along with Sykes’ monkeys and bush babies. Stone Town is reachable by road, on Zanzibar & Pemba’s main island.
A share of the proceeds from village visits goes back into Bwejuu, where the family funded, built and equipped the maternity clinic, then added a neonatal unit beside it with a Swedish charity. The school library was roofed and stocked, and on volunteer days staff and guests turn out to repaint the clinic and clear the public beach. Most of the team came up through the local hotel school, and promotion from within is standard practice. A resident marine biologist keeps watch on the health of the barrier reef and runs reef education sessions for guests and staff.
accommodation
Just over 70 rooms and suites sit in low two-storey cottages through the gardens. Deluxe rooms take the ground floor, each with a furnished terrace, and the suites above have dressing rooms and private sun decks. Two-bedroom family villas suit larger groups. Hand-carved teak, brass lanterns and air conditioning, and no televisions.
activities
Diving and instruction with the Rising Sun Dive Centre, snorkelling, kitesurfing, sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding and guided reef walks at low tide. On land, floodlit tennis, a gym, beach volleyball and bicycles to Bwejuu and Paje. Excursions reach Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park and Stone Town, in Zanzibar & Pemba.
conservation
The Breezes for Bwejuu fund directs a share of village excursion income back into the village itself. A resident marine biologist monitors the health of the barrier reef and runs reef education sessions for guests and staff, while treated wastewater irrigates gardens planted with indigenous species that need less water.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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You fly into Zanzibar's Abeid Amani Karume International Airport and drive to the southeast coast, about an hour, sometimes a little more depending on traffic. The airport takes flights from Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Doha and Addis Ababa, and short hops from the northern circuit airstrips.
Most of our Zanzibar trips follow a safari, so we usually build the flight straight from the Serengeti or Arusha rather than routing back through the mainland.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, and the CDC both class all of Tanzania below 1,800 metres as a malaria risk, and both are explicit that the islands are included, so a beach on the southeast coast is squarely inside the advice. Tablets are recommended, sea breeze or not.
Confirm the current position with a travel clinic or your doctor before travelling. The rooms are netted and the breeze genuinely helps in practice, but cover up at dusk and use repellent all the same.
Yes, all ages are taken and children under twelve stay free in qualifying deluxe rooms, subject to the occupancy terms. The beach here is wide and the resort is set up for families.
The southeast coast is strongly tidal, which shapes a family day more than people expect: at low tide the sea walks a long way out and the swimming becomes reef pools and a pool day rather than open water. The tide charts are worth a look before you commit to dates.
Hot and humid the year round, cooled by the trade winds. The long rains come around March to May, the short rains pass through near November without usually settling in, and June to September is the fresher, breezier stretch.
Pack light cottons, swimwear, a sun hat and high-factor protection, plus reef shoes for the coral and a long-sleeved rash top for snorkelling. Zanzibar is a Muslim island, so bring something covering shoulders and knees for Stone Town and the villages.
June to September brings the fresher trade wind weather, which suits kitesurfing and long days on the beach. October to February is hotter and stiller, with the calmest seas and the best underwater visibility for diving and snorkelling.
We would avoid the long rains around April, when the sea is rough and the visibility poor. If diving is the point of the trip, aim for the later part of the year and we will place the dates around the conditions.
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