Tour Prison Island location where slaves were detained and held until they were transported to places in the Middle East or Europe.
What’s included:
- Boat fees
- All Entrances Fees, taxes, fuel surcharges and service
- Experienced
- Professional Tour guide
- Pick up and drop off from hotels Stone town
- Bottled water during tour
- Snorkeling gears & lunch for option 2/3
What to wear:
- Shorts/short dress
- Open rubber shoes/flip flop
- You’ll have to walk barefoot to board the boat
Prison Island FAQ
The 5.6km boat trip from Stone Town to Prison Island takes around 30 minutes each way.
Prison Island is a tropical paradise which contains an abundance of wildlife and great scenery.
Changuu Island (also known as Prison island or Quarantine Island) is a small island 5.6 km (3.5 mi) northwest of Stone Town, Unguja, Zanzibar, Tanzania. The island is around 800 m (2,600 ft) long and 230 m (750 ft) wide at its broadest point. The island saw use as a prison for rebellious slaves in 1860s and also functioned as a coral mine.
The British First Minister of Zanzibar, Lloyd Mathews, purchased the island in 1893 and constructed a prison complex there. No prisoners were ever housed on the island and instead it became a quarantine station for yellow fever cases.
In the 1920s, Prison Island was transformed into a quarantine island that served British territories in East Africa. The prison buildings were converted into a hospital, and patients were monitored for 1-2 weeks before they were permitted to leave.
The station was only occupied for around half of the year and the rest of the time it was a popular holiday destination. More recently, the island has become a government-owned tourist resort and houses a collection of endangered Aldabra giant tortoises which were originally a gift from the British governor of the Seychelles.
Giant tortoises
Prison Island is famous for its population of Aldabra giant tortoises. In 1919, the British governor of Seychelles gifted 4 tortoises to Prison Island. The tortoises thrived on Prison Island and it contained a population of 200 tortoises by 1955. Unfortunately, during the late c.20th, many tortoises were stolen for sale as pets or meat.
Thankfully, conservation efforts have saved the tortoises from extinction, and their population is beginning to recover. Visitors can feed the tortoises and observe their social interaction.
