Home | About Us | Specials | Contact Us A conclusive South African travel guide for Zanzibar, including selected hotels, tours and beach and island holidays in Africa.
Coral Rock Beach Bungalows and Hotel is located on the South East Coast of Zanzibar in Jambiani. This is an unassuming type of place, completely relaxed and definitely for the "chilled out, no fuss" sort of traveler. It is owned by Neil Cave a South African chap and Mussa Hassan from Zanzibar. Neil went to Zanzibar with our company initially and fell in love with the island so much so that he decided he had to have a piece of it.
We give credit to him, because he has taken great pride and hard work in building up Coral Rock Beach Bungalows and hotel so well. Initially, it was a small place located way off the beaten track with no guests, and it has been transformed into a great lodge. One of the first things they did was to re-decorate the bedrooms, most importantly put air-conditioning in the rooms and created an appealing entrance for guests. From there they went and built an amazing infinity pool near the bar area. This is a huge advantage when the tides are out, and it is hot and humid then there is nothing better than lazing in and around the pool.
This is more a guesthouse than a hotel. Guests should not expect 5 star accommodation, hundreds of bars etc etc. It is a cool unassuming place targeted more at the person who is either on a lesser budget or does not like the frills of a large hotel but wants the luxuries of a pool and aircon in the rooms. They have a comfortable centrally located bar and restaurant. The bar overlooks the ocean and is a great place to chill out in the late afternoon enjoying a cocktail or ice cold beer.
As mentioned earlier, the rooms have been completely revamped. They are very comfortable and feature en suite bathrooms, air-conditioning (which is very important), ceiling fans, mini bars in the rooms so you can keep your water cold, private balcony and ocean views. The decor is a sort of rustic comfortable Zanzibar style. There are only 12 rooms, all of which have a sea view.
The rooms are located in a line of semi-detached units along the mid section of the guesthouse. They are easily accessible to the beach, pool, restaurant and bar area.
They have a centralized dining area where all meals are served. Breakfast is a partial buffet with juices, fruit and cereals available in buffet style. Guests are able to order cooked breakfasts from the staff. Lunches and dinners are served from an a la carte menu. The menu features a variety of traditional Zanzibar dishes, meat, chicken, sandwiches, pizzas and burgers for those not wanting such a large meal. They have a nice seafood section for those who want to give the awesome fresh seafood a bash. This is the first restaurant we have encountered on the island which sells duck! It is definitely worth a try.
Bako, their chef, is really into providing good traditional food. He has been on various local courses and learns a lot from South African catering school students who come to the lodge for training.
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4 Travellers Comments
Written by Angela Silver
Hi Melinda
LOVED EVERY MINUTE!
As you know we tried to extend our stay it was so wonderful - such a pity we could not!
We met such friendly staff and new friends that joined us snorkeling and scuba diving, and those that just lay with us on the beach chairs and enjoyed divine massages and henna tattoos to those that just partied the night away with us - we even met the Minister of Health that came and danced to a band that the hotel had brought in.
I don't have anything bad to say about the hotel - the hospitality that we received from Neil and Gill exemplified all the "little's" that did go wrong.
Few pointers that I would say if you do book folk to Coral Rock is that they need to read the Coral Rock website to truly understanding the hotel and Zanzibar. Folks need to understand that this is a 3rd world country which is poor. You might not have power or water at times, you might not have a fridge or air con that works at times but that's life on the island. Should people from here want a 4 to 5 star hotel then they need to go north and pay for it. When arriving in Zanzibar look for your hotel transfer guys as the other porters hound you at the airport. I had at one stage 4 porters each holding a bag. Eventually my favourite saying was: "Don't touch"! Need the loo - go on the plane before you land as the drive to your hotel is at least 1 hour away if you are going north or south of the island and the ablutions are a sight!
I don't go back to a place visited again as international travel is so expensive - but Coral Rock I will definitely go back to - it was truly great!
Between V and myself and the "boys"...... we took over 3700 photo's.
As SA's are paying in dollars - Scuba dive in the north of the island called Mnembe. - I rate it top class - just like the red sea but the water is just blue..r! Our vis was about 20m - 25m. To get there from the south side of the island was another long story but out of this world with a thousand laughs all the way. Do the island tour - we were very lucky to have one of the islands all to ourselves - truly amazing to be served fresh lobster, calamari, prawns, rice, chips, sauce and drinks from a small cooler box! Snorkeling - if you don't mind the walk - 2km out on the softest sand you will ever feel - truly amazing -(booties a must eventually) I have never seen so many different colours of huge sea urchins moving... V spotted her sea horse, large variety of star fish, fish life and we had eels that could be seen in water that was only knee high. To those that don't feel like the walk - Caption Chicken will take you in his dhow at a price of course..... We did not go to the Jozani Forest, but were lucky as our drivers drove very slowly along the road where the forest was and we managed to see the Columbus monkeys Dolphins we didn't do but a pointer here - take a speed boat not a dhow Stone Town - wish we had more time as we decided to do that before our flight home
To top off our last night there - we went to Kizimkazi - they had a 3 day Cultural Musical Festival - where we "raved" on the beach listening to the local music, danced with the locals, drank the local cocktail that had a major kick, you could even see Dar es Selam in the distance to only having 3 hours sleep before we had to get up and catch the hotel transfer to Stone Town.
Dear Lerato, Sorry not to have reponded sooner. Been busy with guests since our return.
The service I received from you was good, and I appreciate the work you did on our behalf - especially considering that we did change dates and bookings. Thank you.
Coral Rock was just fine, considering it was a 2 star. Our accommodation was clean, quite acceptable, with comfortable bed and everything working, altho some of the people we met on the trip did have problems with their plumbing. For 4 of the 6 nights we spent there, they moved out grandson to his own room, at no extra cost. The staff were friendly and willing, and went out of their way to assist if requested. They do not accept credit cards (I think it is important to mention this to any future clients of yours going to Coral Rock) but Neil - who was fortunately at the resort visiting - was happy to take an ABSA bank cheque from my husband, which we really did appreciate. The tide issue: yes, it does go out very far, but the coral is covered with sand for the most part, which makes it pleasant walking. Capt. Chicken and his snorkelling expeditions were great, some of the best snorkelling I have ever done was in the "acquarium". The other day trips (Blue Safari and Swimming with the Dolphins) were also good value for money and most enjoyable. We spent time in the rim pool and lazing on the chaises, reading and sleeping under the trees which made for the restful holiday we were hoping for. The menu does get a little boring after a while, but not so boring that we were tempted to look for other restaurants and other resorts nearby.
I think anyone who gets into the "island time mode", is relaxed, ready to join in and mix with other guests, and not too fussy about top class resort facilities would have a good time at Coral Rock.
My daughter Megan and her husband lived in Jambiani, we went to visit them and walked over to your hotel a number of times. I heard you chatting away to your guests (also was so nice to hear a sa accent) My son (kellan) had a number of swims in your lovely pool. Never once did you come over and ask for a contribution towards his swim. With the result we supported your bar and restaurant a number of times. We felt so welcome there -- we felt like one of your guests. We as a family (especially Timo and Megs) have recommended your lovely hotel to a nubmer of people.May your business prosper and may your new venture with the other hotel down the road prosper just as much. Regards from East London (South Africa)
Hi Farzanah Thanks for the enquiry! we are home safely and enjoyed the holiday thoroughly. Your service at African Encounters was excellent. At Zanzibar we were met by the assistant manager and driver at the airport and all transfers went well and safely. We are also very happy with Coral Rock and the way they made us feel special. Organisation of stay in Stone Town was lovely as well, we enjoyed the Dhow Palace hotel. Everything was great! Thank you for everything, we will definitely use your services again! Regards Karlien
Written by Angela Silver 