Gecko Nature Lodge Home of Swahili Divers the BEST dive center and Famous Gecko Restaurant

Our vacation was held in a low season, but the weather does not prevent good breakdown. Excellent diving. Very caring diving instructor Sufi with extensive experience in the profession. He knows the sea and interesting points under water. The hotel has good boats with powerful motors. Full set of equipment for diving. Restaurant at the hotel offers local and European cuisine, individual order of dishes is possible. The dishes are very tasty. Chef Musa knows his business very well. Spacial great thanks to the Headmaster of the Gecko Nature Lodge Jennifer. She met us well, organized our walk around the surrounding area, solved our problems with logistics (the airline was canceled by our local flights from Zanzibar and back, but Jennifer forced FlightLink Buy us new tickets from another airline). The hotel is not new, but very large spacious rooms in African style. The bungalow has everything you need. The hotel is very suitable for divers, people who are interested in fishing and spearfishers (very rich Sea). Great holidays for people who want to be alone with nature. Could improve: There were problems with communication. Local communication via SIM card was disconnected. Wi-Fi also worked intermittently.

The lodge is very well located for birdwatchers, close to Ngezi Forest Reserve and 3 of the 4 birds endemic to Pemba occur in the garden and the fields surrounding the lodge. The food is good, the swimming at high tide excellent, the rooms are large with new AC and Jenipher, the manager is very helpful and one of the nicest persons I met in the whole country. Could improve: The price for room with breakfast is quite high with over 100 $ per night and also the long transfers to the harbour and the airport are quite pricey too. I was hoping to do some snorkelling too, but on the half day trip from the lodge ( reasonable priced) most of the corals were dead and there were only a few nice fish left. Most of these were very small. THE diving is supposed to be quite good deeper down, but I did not try this.

Could improve: Old, shabby and dirty

Omari the chef was ace at making vegetarian meals Sofas on the beach front were pleasant Good aircon and shower Jennifer the manager was lovely Could improve: My room was a spartan concrete hut and had lattice shutters with no curtains on 3 sides so at night anyone could see in if they came close to the window which was not nice for me as a solo woman. There is no where to go, hotel is surrounded by fields. There's no other places to eat, nearest next hotel is too far to walk to. Internet kept breaking down.

We didn't expect to receive such a great welcoming experience from the staff starting from Jennifer, the manager, and from the all team. They are such nice team and treat you as part of their family. The food is so delicious and well finished. Moreover all the dishes written in the menu have always been available. The place is located on the northwest side close to Pemba Paradise, wumawimbi beach and the forrest, sourrend by monkeys and bushbaby! You can enjoy the magic sunset thanks to a nice spot in front of the sea and enjoy the barrier reef through snorkelling and scuba diving! Lovely recommended!