Prison Island
The Prison Island Tour is a combination of history, nature, and adventure and is a must for anyone who wants to make the most of their stay in Stone Town.
Prison Island, also known as Changuu Island, is a small island off the coast of Stone Town. In 1893, a prison was built on the island but was never used as such. Instead, it served as a quarantine station for slaves and sailors.
Today, Prison Island is a popular tourist destination, known for its tortoise sanctuary, where you can observe a large number of giant tortoises. The island also offers a beach and historic prison ruins that can be visited.
During your visit to Prison Island, you can swim and enjoy the beauty of nature while at the same time learning about the history of the island and its importance for Zanzibar.
incl. boat ride and entrance to the tortoise sanctuary and prison
The full history of the island:
Changuu was used by its owners, two Arab slave traders who had received it as a gift from the first Sultan of Zanzibar, Majid bin Said (1834–1870), as a prison island where they punished some of their slaves before selling them at the slave market in Stone Town. After Changuu was briefly used as a coral mine, the British governor Lloyd Mathews bought the island in 1893 to build a prison for violent criminals from the mainland. Instead, the prison was converted into a quarantine station for yellow fever when Stone Town faced an epidemic that threatened to spread across East Africa. As most ships arrived in summer and no new patients were admitted in winter, it was already a popular recreational place back then. Freshwater tanks were built and pits from coral mining were flooded to create swimming pools. In 1919, Changuu received its most famous residents from the governor: four Aldabra giant tortoises as a gift. The tortoises reproduced and their numbers increased significantly, but due to theft their population declined despite new imports. In 1931, a new quarantine complex was built for 904 patients. In the meantime, the medical station was closed; today the island hosts a hotel (closed) and holiday apartments.
