Reviews of Fundu Lagoon

"What's not to love?! My 'cottage' was on the beach, with it's own plunge/tiny swimming pool (which was sublime in the heat) and outdoor seating area and sun-loungers. Unlike many places that promise easy access to the sea when the tide is out, Fundu Lagoon actually delivers by way of a long wooden pier/jetty structure.

Activities were easy to organise and reasonably priced. I would heartily recommend Misali island even if you don't fancy any of the activities - it's a lovely spot to swim, wander or simply relax with a book.

The bar on the pier is a lovely spot for sundowners and nibbles. The BBQ on the beach was very tasty and the lobster superb. The staff are super friendly and kindly organised a sail in an ngalawa (a highpoint) even though it wasn't on their list of activities. It's a bit of a trek to get there, but the slightly longer journey is worth the effort.

Overall, the atmosphere was calm and relaxing with activities on tap as and when they take your fancy." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar; 1n in Kenya

"Fundu Lagoon has much to appeal to those looking for a few quiet days on the beach at the end of a safari adventure. The lodge is nicely situated among mangrove forests on an expansive beach. The area is entirely free of the crowds and congestion we found on Zanzibar on an earlier trip.

The tented rooms are large and comfortable. The meals were quite good, with excellent soups, and the meal service was attentive and efficient. The dive center is quite good, and the diving/snorkeling at nearby Misali Island was well worth the trip. The African Sunsets from the over-the-water tiki bar are glorious (even with the lodge being oriented predominately toward the south rather than the west).

That said, there is a certain air of tiredness about the lodge, with rooms and facilities both somewhat dated and not invariably maintained to a high standard. And the service (the dining room and dive center excepted) was not always as attentive, or even as available, as we would have liked.

We would like to single out the lodge manager for special thanks in connection with the COVID test we required to exit Tanzania. Not only did he encourage us take the test while still on Pemba, he helped us register for it and arranged for a medic from Mkoani to administer it. A minor snag occurred on our return to Dar es Salaam, which almost certainly would have prevented a timely test for exit from Tanzania. Thanks to his efforts the Dar test unnecessary, and we avoided untold anxiety." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania; 12n in Zimbabwe

"A wonderfully relaxing stay in paradise. With the exception of the porter who transported our luggage on arrival, the staff were friendly and attentive and enhanced our experience.

The food was good but would have appreciated an option to sample the wonderful seafood in a simple form...ie grilled prawns with salad and fried or grilled fish with potatoes or fries...there is no need to stack, drizzle and add sauces when the local ingredients are fresh and of the best quality. Keep it simple." See all these reviews: 12n in Tanzania

"Arriving by speedboat at Fundu Lagoon set the scene for the remainder of the stay. We felt like Robinson Crusoe, but with mod cons and fabulous food.

The beach suite was the perfect location and it was nice to have the extra seating space and plunge pool to 'hang out'. Parts of the tent were looking a little 'tired', but this did not distract from the overall beauty of Fundu Lagoon.

The pool area was beautiful, the dive centre helpful, service and food all fantastic.

Highlights of our stay were fabulous cocktails (we will be trying to re-create Fundu Punch at home) on the jetty to watch the sunset and the guided walk into the village. It was good to see the welfare project that Fundu Lagoon are running to help the village, visiting the school that has been paid for by donations to the welfare project and meeting the well behaved children of the village." See all these reviews: 10n in Tanzania

"lovely location although quite a long trip to get there and back if the flights don't match up well.

Standard tents are not amazing, slightly smelly drains and avoid room 13 as everyone using the beach path can see straight in so not much privacy. We were moved on request. If you can stretch to it go for the suites.

A majority of the staff are great, but a few were a bit grumpy at times and didn't smile much. One of the reception guys was also a little lacking in manners at times. Definitely warmed to the place after a few days." See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania

"Excellent overall - in terms of:
The suite - by far the most magical room of the trip - imagine Robinson Crusoe meets a feng shui designer - really something special!
Everything is built using local materials and chic barefoot luxury pervades the entire resort
Loved the sandy walkways between the main area and all the rooms - it really does feel like the ultimate island getaway
The jetty bar - watching the sunset over the Indian Ocean - so good we did it as often as possible - cocktail in one hand camera in the other
The shop with full internet access - made a change from the previous places we stayed
Snorkelling and relaxing on Misali island - amazing !

But certain areas need improvement
The service - definitely the most average/poor from our trip - English was limited, service often came across as sullen rather than upbeat and everyone we met raised the same comments so it wasnt hard to detect. When we checked in there was no mention of how one was supposed to order things for the room (eg different drinks to those stocked in the bar) and for the whole stay we often felt a bit in the dark in this regard (people we met told us they had "found" the number to call for drinks on our penultimate day - nothing like this was made clear and it should have been upon check in).

The food - portions FAR too small - for all meals. At breakfast for example, if you wanted an egg with more than one piece of toast there was no way of requesting this except to learn (from other disgruntled guests) you had to say"two toast" or "three toast" - there was no mode of actually getting a portion of toast delivered to your table. We met a few guests who found the lunch portions so small that they would eat lunch at the main restaurant and then go up to the pool side bar to have a second one! We all took this tip on board by the end

Honeymoon package - badly handled from start to finish. We met some friends at the resort who had got the honeymoon package which included a dinner on the beach. It had initially frustrated us that despite the hotel being ALL INCLUSIVE if you wanted dinner on the beach you had to pay a further $80 per couple. So we asked the manager - who then informed us two days before we were due to leave that actually he had checked the booking and we WERE entitled to the honeymoon package - but had to rush to do the beach dinner that night, and he then remembered we also had a massage included - so again we had to rush to book this on the last day. None of it relaxing or easy. He gave us some champagne as a thank you but really the whole situation should have been handled in a more slick fashion (and the hotel should realise on a separate note that charging $80 for a beach dinner regardless in an all inclusive resort does not engender goodwill from guests).

Feedback form - from the above you can see that certain things irked us but we despite checking with the manager (when the above honeymoon issue arose) and being assured a feedback form was given nothing was actually offered to us on check out. We checked on the boat and nobody else was given the form - so no wonder there are the above issues as nobody can submit their feedback!" See all these reviews: 13n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar

"We stared well with an up-grade to a superior beach room but wondered how we could possibly do justice to the space !

The room was extremely comfortable even if it did get very hot during the night when the electricity cut out and the fans gave up. It was lovely being able to walk straigjht onto the beach and into the sea although the walk into the sea did get longer and longer as the Spring tides turned to Neaps.

The food was excellent and served with great charm, and the coktails were, well, something else!

Snorkelling from Misali Island was terrific and Simba who acted as a snorkelling guide a couple of times only made the experience more enjoyable.

Dinner on the beach (three times during our 8 night stay) was lovely. We took ourselves into the neighbouring village where we were ably shown round by two boys who climb trees to fetch fresh coconut and introduced us to their school. It was a great place to crash out -- and get active when it was not too hot." See all these reviews: 16n in Tanzania; 2n in Zanzibar

"Needs major investment and a complete rethink - looks tired, feels tired.

New management now in place for a few months and have evidently been doing bits and pieces but din't appear to be thinking radically enough, Food depressing - no serious attemt to make use of all the fresh produce and fresh fish around.

Coffee really awful - any restaurant which gives you fake cafetieres at breakfast by pouring coffee from a thermos into a cafetiere really has no business surviving.

A big wake-up call to owners and managers alike if Fundu is to compete, which it ought to be able to given natural advantages of location, diving etc. Contrast with the recently re-done accommodation at Sand Rivers, which we had just come from, really brings home how far behind Fundu has fallen." See all these reviews: 14n in Tanzania; 1n in Zanzibar