MapTanzaniaNungwiNungwiNungwi

Nungwi

Zanzibar North · Nungwi · Kaskazini A

also known as Ras Nungwi, Nungwi Kite Beach, Kiteboarding Zanzibar Ras Nungwi Kite Lagoon

Part of Nungwi →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlyhigh crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Jan, Feb, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Months riders and schools name

How windy

18-30 knots

Character: trade

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

28 °C in summerRas Nungwi has flat water plus medium waves, and June-October brings 1.5-3 m breaks at Ras Nungwi Kite Beach

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jul Aug Dec Jan

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

90 min

Karume International Airport (ZNZ)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Matemwe15 km

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Kendwano page yet
Pwani Mchanganino page yet
Kiwengwano page yet
Mnemba Islandno page yet
Paje
Jambiani

The spot

Nungwi is the north tip of Unguja, and it rides nothing like Paje. The tide counts for less here and there is swimming water close to shore for much of the day, but the cape is deeper, carries real reef and bends the wind angle around the point. It is a coral lagoon over sand, warm, with less reef protection and more swell than the southeast lagoons.

Seasons

Two seasons: Kaskazi from late December to mid-March, warmer and lighter, and Kusi from June to September or early October, stronger, with June-October also the stretch when Ras Nungwi picks up its better wave breaks.

Who should visit

Come here if you want kiting mixed with diving, dhow sunsets and a town that stays awake, and go to Paje or Jambiani instead if you want a flat-water training camp and nothing else.

Beginners can learn here through a school.

Independent first-timers should not try it alone: between depth, reef, boat traffic and the wind swinging around the cape, this is a less forgiving beach than the east coast.

The wind

locals call it Kaskazi / Kusi (also spelled Kaskazini / Kuzi)

Direction

cross-onKaskazicross-offKusiwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

Cross-onshore on the north-east Kaskazi. In the south-east Kusi the same north-facing point goes cross-offshore, which is the reason riders shift roughly 200 m east to the Sazani/Ras Nungwi beach, where the flow comes back cross-on.

Dominant direction

NE during Kaskazi; SE during Kusi

Kite sizes

4567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

The quiver the north-tip centres actually run is 12, 10 and 9 m, with a 7 m for the strongest Kusi afternoons and a 15 m worth packing only if the luggage allowance stretches; twin-tips are mostly 135-140 cm. A 75-85 kg rider will be on the 10 or the 12 through most of a Kaskazi week and on the 9 when Kusi is properly in.Across Zanzibar the sizes most used are 10-14 m, so a 9-11 m plus one larger kite covers nearly every day here.

Character

trade

Typical strength

Kaskazi figures disagree: 18-30 knots at the high end and closer to 12-22 knots at the low, unconfirmed either way. Kusi is commonly around 18-25 knots.

Seasonal trade-wind spot. Both seasons are generally consistent and side-onshore, though the north-facing Ras Nungwi angle can be side-off in SE Kusi unless launching farther east.

Best kiteboarding conditions run from late December to mid-March for Kaskazi and June to early October for Kusi. There are two main kite seasons, with the June-September/October Kusi generally stronger and the December-February/March Kaskazi warmer and lighter. The northern point can work especially well in December-February; in June-September, launching about 200 m east at Sazani/Ras Nungwi is recommended.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

9 ktJan
10 ktFeb
6 ktMar
4 ktApr
4 ktMay
4 ktJun
4 ktJul
7 ktAug
8 ktSep
8 ktOct
6 ktNov
6 ktDec

avg knots per month · season highlighted

Monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (Jan, Feb, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep).

Measured at Kiwengwa Duotone Pro Center / Zanzibar, ~NaN km from the spot (~4.4 (3/2022–7/2026)).

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Gusts · Wind from · Air

Month	Knots	Gusts	Wind from	Air
Jan	9 kt	11 kt	ENE	28 °C
Feb	10 kt	11 kt	ENE	29 °C
Mar	6 kt	8 kt	ENE	29 °C
Apr	4 kt	5 kt	S	28 °C
May	4 kt	6 kt	S	28 °C
Jun	4 kt	6 kt	SSE	27 °C
Jul	4 kt	6 kt	SSE	26 °C
Aug	7 kt	9 kt	SE	26 °C
Sep	8 kt	9 kt	SE	26 °C
Oct	8 kt	9 kt	SE	27 °C
Nov	6 kt	7 kt	ESE	28 °C
Dec	6 kt	7 kt	ENE	29 °C

How this was measuredmeasured · ~4.4 (3/2022–7/2026)

A ground station recorded this, at the distance the page names.

The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Kiwengwa Duotone Pro Center / Zanzibar · Windfinder (observed station) · ~4.4 (3/2022–7/2026)

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

Not a stand-up spot in the Paje sense. Water off the northern cape is comparatively deep and drops away close in, which is also why the tide matters less here than on the east coast.There are calm shallow patches inside the coral lagoon, flat enough that the schools put SUPs on them, but do not plan on walking a beginner out to waist depth over hundreds of metres.

Tides

Nungwi has published tide tables and the tide does affect the riding. The effect is smaller than at Paje or Jambiani, which is not the same thing as the spot being tide-free.

Temperature

28 °C summer · 26 °C winter

Wetsuit

Boardshorts or bikini year-round; rash vest for sun. Multiple dives or long sessions in the cooler June-August season may justify a thin top, but a wetsuit is not normally needed.

Currents

Stronger current expected given the open channel setting; not independently quantified

Conditions

Ras Nungwi has flat water plus medium waves, and June-October brings 1.5-3 m breaks at Ras Nungwi Kite Beach.

Nungwi is a working swimming, diving, fishing and tour-boat beach, so the practical kite zone is not the central west-facing resort frontage.

Reef and coral are part of the ground here.

It is also the one Zanzibar spot with no seaweed-farm sticks in the water, so the poles and lines you dodge on the east coast are not a factor.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

The Nungwi schools run beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons, so every level is catered for by someone. Ras Nungwi itself reads as an intermediate beach: depth, reef, waves, tide influence and the wind angle bending round the cape all matter more than they do on the east coast, so a complete beginner belongs with a school rather than self-launching.

The scene

What riders come here for

intermediateadvancedfreeridewave ridingwingfoilhydrofoildownwinderslessons with a school

Nungwi is Zanzibar's busy northern end: hotels, beach bars, restaurants, dive centres, sunsets and nightlife pushed up against a dhow-building and fishing village. The kite scene is real but secondary to the wider beach economy, which is the reverse of Paje.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: ok

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Matemwe15 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

+255 779 720 259

Rescue — full text1 min read

Rescue and safety

No public or municipal rescue, and no Nungwi operator advertises a dedicated rescue boat. Your cover is the school you book or rent through: the north-tip centre answers on +255 779 720 259, and the dive boats and dhows working the cape are numerous without being on call for kiters.

Gear rental

Rental gear is released only to riders holding IKO Level 3 or demonstrable independent competence, against a passport or ID deposit, and it carries no insurance; Kite Club Zanzibar sells optional damage cover at about US$30 for up to US$200 of damage (2026). On the deeper water off Ras Nungwi, self-rescue and a downwind plan are the real safety net.

Launch

Use the dedicated Nungwi/Ras Nungwi kite-school area rather than the busiest swimming frontage. The northerly-point setup is near the lighthouse/Aluna Beach Lodge in Kaskazi; Kusi riders should launch about 200 m east toward Sazani Beach/Ras Nungwi. The eastern side of Nungwi cape is a quiet, long sandy beach suitable for launching and landing.

Hazards riders report 11 reported

Wind

wind-angle changes around the northern cape

Crowds and zones

boat traffic (busy dhow and tour-boat area)
crowded swimming/snorkeling beaches
boat traffic from fishing, diving, snorkeling and dhow/cruise operations
crowded swimming beaches and resort frontage in central Nungwi

Bottom

reef
reef and coral
deeper water than Paje-style shallow lagoons

Waves and currents

currents
waves at Ras Nungwi during June-October
tide influence despite smaller tidal effect than the east coast

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: no kite permit, municipal launch zone or seasonal kite ban was found for Nungwi. What constrains you is the swimming, dive-boat and dhow traffic on the central beach, and where each school chooses to set up that day.
2026: kite rental at the Nungwi centres is gated on an IKO Level 3 card or proven independent-rider competence, with a passport or ID left as deposit, and rented equipment carries no insurance.
Since 2024-10-01, and still in force in 2026, every foreign non-resident entering Zanzibar must hold the mandatory Zanzibar inbound travel insurance, bought online through the government portal before arrival.
2026: Mnemba, the target of downwinders from this coast, sits inside a marine conservation area and has a 500 m exclusion zone that non-guests may not enter and may not land on.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Ask the school where they are launching that day: Kaskazi runs off the lighthouse and Aluna Beach Lodge, Kusi off Sazani/Ras Nungwi about 200 m east.
Do not rig on the central west-facing swimming beach; use the kite-school area and keep clear of swimmers, dhows and snorkel boats.
Check a tide table anyway. The tide is smaller here than on the east coast and it still moves Nungwi Reefs and the beach width.
Pack 12, 10 and 9 m, a 7 m for the strong Kusi afternoons, and a 15 m only if the airline allowance is generous.
Buy the mandatory Zanzibar inbound travel insurance online before you fly; it is checked on entry.
Ride with someone or through a school for the June-October waves: there is no rescue boat on call and the water is too deep to walk a lost board back in.

Getting there

Airport

Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ), Zanzibar

Route

Private car or hotel transfer from the airport/Stone Town to Nungwi; ferries from Dar es Salaam arrive in Stone Town, then require a road transfer north.

Transfer

90 min

Cost level

Medium to high by Zanzibar beach standards. Nungwi runs from budget guesthouses to high-end resorts and is one of the island's most developed beach bases; a private airport transfer ran around US$50-70 (2026) one way for up to four passengers.

Staying

Large choice in and around Nungwi: backpacker/budget rooms, mid-range beach hotels, dive resorts and higher-end resorts. Staying near Ras Nungwi/east side is more practical for the kite zone; staying on the west beach is better for sunsets, restaurants and nightlife.

No-wind days

Diving and snorkelling trips to Mnemba Atoll, turtle-conservation visit at Mnarani, sunset dhow cruises, SUP, fishing, kayaking, parasailing, Stone Town day trip, spice tours, Kendwa beach and nightlife.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite in Nungwi?

Kaskazi runs roughly late December to mid-March from the north-east, while Kusi runs June to early October from the south-east and is generally stronger.

Is Nungwi suitable for beginners?

Beginners can learn through a local school, but independent first-timers should treat Nungwi as less forgiving than Paje or Jambiani due to reef, depth, boat traffic and wind-angle changes around the cape.

What is the wind like?

Wind is a cross-onshore trade wind, with Kaskazi reported around 12-30 knots and Kusi commonly around 18-25 knots depending on source.

Are there kite schools in Nungwi?

Yes, active schools include Kiteboarding Zanzibar at Ras Nungwi, Kite Club Zanzibar and Zanzibar Watersports.

What are the main hazards?

Boat traffic from dhows and tour boats, reef and coral, crowded swimming beaches and wind-angle changes around the northern cape are the main hazards.

The bigger pictureEverything about Nungwi

Last updated: August 2026