Prison Island Tour: Explore the Historical Tortoise Sanctuary and Beautiful Marine Life

Embark on a half-day Prison Island tour to discover a historical tortoise sanctuary and vibrant marine life. Snorkel, relax, and capture memorable moments on this captivating adventure!

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Prison Island - Changuu Private Island - Just a short boat ride from Stone Town, Changuu Island (also known as Prison Island) is a one-of-a-kind and accessible excursion with an intriguing history, unique wildlife and picturesque, You will visit the giant old tortoise, beautiful colorful peacock, swing on the crystal clear sea and snorkelling.
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What's Included
  • Bottled water
  • Boat from Stone Town
  • Snacks
  • Use of snorkeling equipment
What's Not Included
  • Lunch in the island’s restaurant
  • Food and drinks
  • Transportation to/from other parts of Zanzibar
  • Parking fees
Additional Information

Embark on a half-day journey to Prison Island, starting from the coastline of Stone Town and making a halt at the stunning beach of Prison Island, located 5 km off the shore. The prison, currently a hotel property, was constructed in 1893 and originally served as a confinement for violent offenders and the unwell populace from the mainland.
Prison…

Location
Mizingani Road
The meeting point will be in front of the main entrance of the Old Fort in Forodhani, Stone Town at 09:00AM.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.9
(29 Ratings)
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T3367egmiriamg
Dec 5, 2024
Awesome prison island experience! - Muhsin is the Mr Five Star tour guide!!! We had a very fun boat ride, an educational tour of prison island, and a relaxing time interacting with the famous tortoises. My husband and I fully enjoyed our morning with Muhsin. He was extremely accommodating, offered us time to swim on the island, and allowed us to pace our visit. I would highly recommend Muhsin and the Colors of Zanzibar tour company!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
399nielsd
Aug 22, 2024
Enjoyable trip to prison island - Nice trip tonPrison Island, and nice snorkeling around. We even have been lucky enough to see dolphins. Our guides Fatma and Muhsin were really lovely
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eni
Feb 12, 2024
Nakupenda, Jozani forest, the rock restaurant, mnemba beach, stone town and other places are perfect! Love Zanzibar - Perfect place, beautiful beaches, wonderful experience! Food excellent. I will return again! Zanibar a dream come. Masai show respect.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Zanele_m
Jan 22, 2024
Tour of Island - The tour company accommodated my schedule change and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. There were plenty of photo opportunities and the Museum on the Island was very impressive.
Review provided by Viator
Jozephla
Sep 24, 2024
Visit to the turtles - The boat trip there was fun and the turtles were impressive to see. As was to be expected, there were a lot of tourists.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elaine1408
Jun 14, 2024
Prison island tour - We booked through viator colours of zanzibar fatima met us at the fort nd walked us to the boat when on the boat she gave us some history walked us around the prison island and sawvthe turtles in their habitat and gave us time to explore than after giving us the history of the place then had chance to swim paddle in oceam then back to shore all in all great tour very informative was lovely to meet fatima who then showed us where we could eat over and above her job
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gundaboy
May 30, 2024
Very Important History Of The Colonial Rule - I took my 11 year old daughter to show how the people were treated back then. A history lesson as most schools do not teach history
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Zezekhalil
Aug 23, 2022
Feeding turtles - It’s a nice tour for kids and adults , you reach the island by a small Wooden boat , then you walk few steps up the island and you see the turtles and you get to feed them the tour guide will give some informations about the prison island it’s nice info , and that the boat can take you to the sand bank to swim and spent little time swimming , then going back to the land and you can eat in any restaurant you prefer and walk around stone town .
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stephen
Jan 23, 2020
Could be so much more - Easy to organise yourself while in Stone Town. For the amount there is to see ( one building and the tortoises ) it really is not worth having a guide. Entry $4 but tours will refund. Would like to have seen more history but the 'prison ' is now a cafe, bar and loo's. Tortoises seemed happy enough. Babies kept locked in horrid mesh cage with little sunlight. Smell of cabbage everywhere. Did NOT snorkel as it was too choppy. We did dive reefs nearer Chumbe and Fumba where the snorkeling was excellent. As with all boat transfers - be prepared to get wet
Review provided by Tripadvisor
53j_zekb
Jan 31, 2022
Do not go there! - Tragedy, trash and torture. By promoting conscious traveling, I will not allow my participants to watch it again. Here's what we witnessed: - the whole reserve is filled with rubbish, the staff swear that they clean it every day, and you can see that the rubbish is very old and lies for a long time. - a turtle swallowing a plastic bag in front of our eyes ... we drew the attention of the park staff who ignored the topic. One of the two employees was involved in an extremely important project - lying face down on a wall in the reserve, the other was watching over and counting donations - his reaction was too late, he did not help the turtle, he cleaned up 3 plastic bags around him, leaving the rest of the garbage (caps). plastic, foil, cookie wrappers, bills ...) - in the park, on the ground, there is an abandoned metal frame, which apparently can hurt turtles .. - you can write a lot more about what a prison with a cage for small turtles is, how some look barely alive .. It is sad that people give 5 stars for such places, only because the tortoise will eat everything out of their hands and they can take a photo with it. I sincerely hope that changes will come, that this place will be a real sanctuary for turtles.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Select Date and Tickets
up to 15 guests
2 Adult
April 2025
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