Halal Tourism Tanzania

Welcome to Prison Island Tour

Prison Island also known as the Changuu Island lies about 30 minutes by boat from the Zanzibar Island. The prison thereon was never used to house prisoners. The Prison Island Tour (Zanzibar) will take you there.
The island was once used by an Arab slave trader to contain the more troublesome slaves he had brought from the African mainland to prevent their escape before shipping them to the Arabian purchasers, or for auctioning in Zanzibar slave trade market. The slaves were dumped on the island.
Earning its name as a former prison for slaves and a quarantine station for Zanzibar and the mainland, nowadays the island gives you the chance to escape for some peace and quiet.
The island lies just off the Old Stone Town, it is also a home to giant land tortoises that were imported from  Seychelles in the late 19th century. Now it is more commonly known as a home of Zanzibar’s Giant Aldabran Tortoise colony, some of which are over a hundred years old! This endangered species came to Zanzibar as a gift from the government of the Seychelles.
Changuu Island, also known as Prison Island, is just off the coast of Stone Town, Zanzibar.  Now a tourist attraction, Prison Island was once a place where slaves were detained and at one point, it also served as a place of quarantine.
The boat ride from Stone Town takes 20-30 minutes and the seas at times can be a bit rough. Arriving on the island, there is a mysterious rustic wooden bridge that hovers a few meters above the water, jetting out into the sea.
The small sandy beach on Prison Island Zanzibar is a a quiet place where no one will bother you and you can peacefully relax or sunbathe.
If you would like to snorkel, the boat will take you a few meters off shore where you can disembark into deeper water with an small area of coral.  The time I went, the snorkeling wasn’t that great as the current was quite strong.

ACTIVITIES
•    See the historical prison buildings
•    Meet the giant tortoise in their sanctuary
•    Snorkel in the colorful coral reefs nearby
•    Enjoy the beautiful Indian Ocean