While in Tanzania and Botswana we will be on the move every day or close to it for a month so we will be looking for some down time on the exotic island of Zanzibar. We really only have 4 or 5 days on the beach and 2 or 3 days in Stonetown but we must come home rested, after all this is a vacation.
We want to dive as we will probably not return to this corner of the world so it is now or never and diving is a very relaxing activity. I start our search for accommodation by looking at maps of the dive sites and the PADI dive operators locator. This narrows down the area we are likely to stay.
There are a few areas that look good as starting points. The north end of the island near Kendwa or Nungui, the east side of the island near Matemwe, farther south near Paje and Zambini, or the along the south-west shore near Kizimzazi.
It took hours, but I found several possible places to stay in each of these areas. The hard part is finding information on what area would be the best for what we want to do. R&R and dive. Debbie came up with the idea to post a question on Trip Advisor in the forum and see what comes up. Did that last night and so far have 2 responses. First suggested the Matemwe area. The second suggest a completely different island, Pemba. I am now on a holding pattern awaiting more feedback. Once we decide what area we are going to we will narrow the hotel choice severely and the decision should be easier.