Frequently Asked Questions

Most guests fly to Mafia Island and are with us about half an hour after landing.

Fly to Mafia Island. Coastal Aviation and Auric Air fly to Mafia several times a day from Dar es Salaam (about 30 minutes, from Terminal 1) and from Zanzibar (about 45 minutes). If you have trouble booking online, tell us and we’ll help.

Road and boat to Chole. We’ll meet you at the airport, drive you across Mafia to Utende and bring you over to Chole by boat, about 30 minutes in all.

Coming through Zanzibar? A night in Stone Town is a lovely way to break the journey.

By sea: there is also a ferry from Nyamisati, on the mainland about three to four hours’ drive south of Dar es Salaam, to Kilindoni on Mafia. The crossing takes around five hours, departures depend on the tides, and the service is often interrupted, so we always recommend flying.

For a map, flight details and every way to reach us, see Getting to Chole Island.

The airport is on Mafia’s west coast. Utende, where our boat waits, is 15 km away on the east coast, and Chole is 1 km across the water from there.

With us: our meet-and-greet transfer is $40 per car (up to 6 people). We’ll be waiting when you land, and the boat will be ready at Utende.
On your own: a taxi costs about $30 and a bajaji (tuk-tuk) about $10. Tell us when you’ll reach Utende and our boat will come for you.
For the truly independent: the local boat from Utende to Chole costs about 2,000 Tanzanian shillings. It leaves when it’s full, between 8:00 and 18:00, and the boatman likes a long lunch, so avoid 12:00 to 14:00.
For a map and more details, see Getting to Chole Island.

No. Marine Park fees have to be paid in person on arrival at the gate (on the road from the airport to Utende beach) by credit card. Currently the fee is $23.6 per adult per night. Children up to the age of 15, half price.

It depends on what you’d like to do:

• Whale sharks: October to February, sometimes into March
• Turtle hatchings: June to September, with a few nests the rest of the year
• Diving: best once the trade winds turn, in September or October
• Snorkelling: good all year
• Cooler weather: June to September

The long rains start in mid-March, so we close from 31 March to 15 June for the team’s holidays and maintenance.

All your meals, with tea and coffee throughout the day, from the morning basket sent up to your treehouse to after dinner, and filtered drinking water whenever you need it. Other drinks are charged separately and settled at the end of your stay.

Excursions are not included, and neither are the airport transfer, massages or the Marine Park fee.

Our minimum stay is three nights. Travelling slowly lightens your carbon footprint, and we’d rather you settled in than rushed through. We’d recommend five to seven nights: enough time for the whale sharks or a sandbank, the village and Kua, and a few slow afternoons doing nothing at all. Staying longer? Our Long Stay offer gives you 20% off stays of five nights or more.

Chole is heaven on earth for young explorers, budding artists and scientists. We don’t have television, nor any of those modern child distracting devices. Instead we offer so much to do and see for the inquisitive mind. It is the safest place we have ever been and we let our kids go almost feral because nature is benign and every Cholean feels that you are their guest and look after your kids like family. We can’t accommodate children under two years of age in peak seasons and children under the age of 5yrs need to sleep in the ground suite (Sita) for safety reasons. Excursions that are particular children friendly include; turtle hatchings, swimming with whale sharks, snorkeling, sand bank picnics/explorations, village walks, SUPping/ mangrove exploration, beachcombing/ catching crabs whilst the parents are sleeping, hand-line fishing for lunch. Our staff take their child-minding responsibilities seriously and we are a very small lodge, where the staff outnumber the guests three to one! A dedicated child minder can be arranged if you find you need one. WiFi is available in our Red Herring café (but your children do not need to know that!). PS. We do have private plunge pools in three of our rooms, Nne, Saba and Tatu.

Yes. Chole is made for celebrations: anniversaries, birthdays and weddings, like the one we hosted in September 2026 (see it on Instagram, cholemjini_treehouse_lodge). It’s also a beautiful place for quiet retreats, time offline and workshops. Write to us and we’ll plan it with you.

Each treehouse is open to the sea breeze, with blinds you lower for privacy, shade or rain, and a mosquito net over the bed. The stairs up are steep, but Jean insisted on making every step perfectly straight and even, which took a lot of work, and there are handrails all the way up. If stairs are difficult for you, Sita, our ground-floor suite, has none.
At night, there are lanterns and solar hand lights by your bed, a lockbox for your valuables, and a watchman nearby.

A basket of tea or coffee is sent up to your treehouse around 7:30, before breakfast from 8:00. Lunch is at 13:00 and dinner at 20:00, which we can move to suit you. Each day we’ll ask whether you’d like to join the shared table or have a candlelit table of your own, and dinner moves around the lodge: the ruins, the tamarind tree, the jetty. See our Dining page for sample menus.

Happily. Anne eats gluten-free herself, so our kitchen bakes gluten-free bread and pastries too. Most meals are fresh seafood with vegetables and salads, and there’s always a protein-rich vegetarian option. We have never served pork, and meat and chicken appear only now and then. Tell us about any diets or allergies when you book.

See our Dining page for meal times and sample menus.

Yes. Chole Mjini has always been built around low-impact living. We’ve run on solar power since the start, and a couple of years ago mains electricity reached the island too, so we now use both: the sun for almost everything, and the mains so that the essentials are always there. You’ll have fans, lights, flushing toilets, running water and sockets to charge your phone.
The lights are kept soft on purpose: enough to read and find your way, gentle enough to let the night and the stars take over. We still hope you’ll slow down to the island’s rhythm, but you’ll have everything you need to be comfortable.

Yes, in your treehouse or at the Red Herring. At the Red Herring we charge off the sun, so charging there is from 9:30 to 17:00, and you can leave your things with the team. Sockets are British three-pin (Type G), and some also have USB ports, so bring an adapter if your plugs are different.

Yes, at the Red Herring, from 9:30 until sunset. There’s mobile signal on the island too, and Airtel works best here. If you’d like to stay connected, you can buy an Airtel SIM card in Kilindoni, on the way from the airport. Ask our driver to stop, and bring your passport, which you need to buy one. You can also set up an eSIM before you travel, and we’re happy to help with either.
There’s no Wi-Fi in the treehouses, and that’s on purpose (see the next question).

It’s a choice we made on purpose. Without notifications pinging, the days here find their own pace: you fall asleep to the sea, wake up with the birds, and stop reaching for your phone sooner than you’d expect. A day or two in, guests often tell us how much calmer they feel, and many say it’s what they'll take home from their stay with us. It’s what we mean by coming back to your senses.

If you need to check in with home or work, the Red Herring is a short walk away, with the sunset over Mafia to go with it.

Absolutely. We are located in the heart of the Marine Park closest of all the lodges to the dive sites the closest being 20 minutes. We coordinate scuba diving experiences with the excellent five star PADI centre Mafia Island Diving directly opposite Chole on Mafia island. They will pick you up and drop you off by boat en-route to the dives. Let us know when you wish to go for diving and we will organize everything for you. 

Yes. We have masks, snorkels and fins in every size, plus stand-up paddle boards and kayaks for hire.

Chole is a conservative Muslim community. When you visit the village, please wear clothes that cover your chest and shoulders and reach below the knee. A kanga wrapped over your swimsuit or shorts is the easiest way to do it. Please also ask before taking photos of anyone, and don’t give money, sweets or gifts to children, so that begging doesn’t become a habit.
 
 

Please ask your doctor or a travel clinic, as it depends on your health and your route. On Chole there are very few mosquitoes for most of the year, especially when the trade winds blow, but you may pass through malaria areas on the way. We take malaria seriously and keep test kits and treatment at the lodge at all times.

Yes, bring some. You can settle your lodge bill by card at the end of your stay, but most things on Mafia are cash only: excursions, taxis and bajajis, the local boat and tips. You’ll also want some for the crafts sold in the village, like woven mats, coconut rope and hand-forged nails.

If you didn’t have time to change money at the airport, there’s an ATM in Kilindoni, on the way from the airport to Utende. Just ask our driver to stop so you can take out Tanzanian shillings.

Less than you think. Guests whose luggage went missing have managed beautifully with a swimsuit, a T-shirt, a kikoi and flip-flops.
Bring:

• Sun protection: reef-safe sunscreen or a rash guard, as you’ll be in a marine park
• Mosquito repellent
• Water shoes or sandals, for boats and for walking across to Juani and the Kua ruins
• Long, loose trousers, shirts and socks for the evenings
• A kanga or two, the colourful cotton wraps worn all along the Swahili coast. They’re very handy on excursions and for an unplanned walk through the village. You can also buy them on Chole.
• Cash in Tanzanian shillings. Some places also accept US dollars.
• A plug adapter if you need one. Our sockets are British (Type G), and some also have USB ports.
• Any medicines you need. There are pharmacies in Kilindoni, but you’ll save time by bringing the essentials. It can get very hot, so electrolytes are worth packing too.

Leave at home:

• Towels: we provide bath and beach towels
• Soap and shampoo: we provide artisanal coconut-and-lime body soap and shampoo. Conditioner isn't provided.
• A torch: there are lanterns and solar lights in your treehouse
• Bottled water: filtered drinking water is always available
• Lots of clothes: we have a laundry service