3 Days of Craft Beer, Boutique Breweries & Swahili Culture in Zanzibar (December Itinerary)

The day begins with the soft clink of cups and the low murmur of conversations at ZanziBarista, Paje’s cafe-bar hybrid where espresso mingles with sea air and a faint whiff of sunscreen from early kitesurfers. You ride that caffeine glow back into the island’s story with the Zanzibar Tour: Spice Farm, Stone Town, Island—crushing fresh cloves between your fingers, the smell sharp and sweet, as a guide unpacks centuries of trade and resistance in alleys that still echo with footsteps. Lunch is at The Box by Ashley.Maybe, where the plates feel as curated as the crowd: design-minded travelers lingering over Swahili-inflected dishes in a cool, tiled room off Kenyatta Road. By afternoon, you slip into The Secret Garden at Emerson Spice, not to eat yet but to claim a leafy corner and let the filtered light and trickle of water recalibrate your senses—this is where the island’s love of spice turns into architecture and atmosphere. Dinner later at Beach House Zanzibar stretches out over the water, the sky going from pale gold to deep indigo as the clink of cutlery competes with the hush of waves. The night finishes offshore at Floating Bar, a tiny speck of wooden decking where beer bottles sweat in your hands, taarab and Afrobeat drift across the water, and Stone Town becomes a twinkling silhouette behind you—a perfect prologue for the coastal days to come.

Morning on Paje Beach sounds like canvas flapping and lines whistling: kites being rigged against a pale, milky sky. You walk the damp sand to Paje Beach proper, where the tide pulls back to reveal glassy shallows and the air smells of seaweed and sunscreen. By late morning, a driver whisks you along the coastal road to the Zanzibar Discovery Tour—spice farm, Jozani Forest, Kuza Cave, The Rock, Paje again—a patchwork of cool forest air, mineral-rich cave water against your skin, and the theatrical arrival at The Rock Restaurant perched above the tide. Lunch folds into this rhythm: you eat with the sea almost at eye level, waves slapping the rock below, plates fragrant with garlic and local herbs. Afternoon slides south to Jambiani, where Passion Boutique Hotel’s stretch of sand becomes your living room; the light is softer here, and the only soundtrack is waves and the occasional laugh from the pool. As the sky bruises purple, you wander down to Za Island Bar for dinner and drinks, toes digging into the cool sand, the grill sending up smoke scented with chili and lime. The night closes at ZANZISTAR BEACHBAR, a lantern-lit pocket of Jambiani where the crowd is equal parts locals and barefoot travelers, and the beers are cold enough to fog the glass. Tomorrow will tilt north toward Nungwi’s fish markets and late-night bars, but tonight is about the slow hum of the east coast and the way Swahili hospitality makes you feel like a familiar face after just one round.

By day three, the island’s rhythm has sunk into your bones. You wake to the sound of surf and head north, the road unspooling past palms and small villages, until The Zanzibari Hotel’s cliffside perch introduces a different kind of quiet. The air up here feels a touch cooler, the sea a deeper blue, and the crash of waves against rock has its own metronome. Late morning, you duck inland briefly for Twiga Brewery at AIM Mall—a surprisingly sleek pocket of taps, stainless steel, and chilled glasses in a town better known for spice and history than hops. Lunch is at Fish Market Local Restaurant in Nungwi, where your table is essentially an extension of the beach: toes in the sand, smoke from the grill curling into the breeze, and plates that taste like they were in the water an hour ago. Afternoon becomes about texture and light at Bobo Beach Zanzibar, where the sand is fine and white, and dhows cut across the horizon as the sun begins its slow descent. Dinner shifts tone at MAHI MAHI Beach Bar & Restaurant—burger juice on your fingers, music tuned just loud enough to hum in your chest, staff who remember your drink from the second round. The night ends at CHE Rock Bar & Restaurant, where the crowd skews young and loose, the playlist tips into rock and Afro-fusion, and the air smells of beer and sea spray. There’s a sense of completion here: you’ve drunk in Stone Town’s history, the east coast’s languid afternoons, and now Nungwi’s slightly rowdier nights. Tomorrow you’ll pack, sand still in your shoes and a mental list of labels, bars, and flavors you’re not quite finished with.