Protea Hotel Amani Beach

The Hotel

Amani means peace in Kiswahili, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at Protea Hotel Amani Beach. Just 33km south of the bustling city of Dar es Salaam, down a sandy road to the ocean, hides our small African paradise and a total escape from the outside world.

Set amongst 80 acres of beautiful tropical gardens, each of our 10 luxury beach bungalows overlooks the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. They combine the opulence of Zanzibar sultans with African craftsmanship and charm.

Around the bungalows the grounds are alive with wildlife and, on the unspoiled white sands of our secluded beach; turtles have chosen to make their home.

We have been blessed to find this place and believe that somewhere this beautiful deserves to be shared but also cared for and protected. Whether you’re looking for total relaxation, a romantic holiday, adventure or simply to experience unspoilt nature, you’ll find it here and more.

Welcome to an unforgettable experience, welcome to Amani Beach Hotel.

Features

Wining & Dining

There are two dining areas at Amani Beach Hotel. The Beach Bar provides an inspiring setting for our buffet breakfast and à la carte lunch whilst our Main Restaurant provides a much more romantic and atmospheric setting for the evening meal.

We’re passionate about food and uncompromising about the quality of our ingredients. To this end, we operate a policy of sourcing locally wherever possible, buying fish and seafood straight off our beach, picking fruit and vegetables from our own organic farm and visiting the colourful markets to support the local community.

Our food draws it influences from the exotic flavours of East African cooking as well as from the simple fresh flavours of the Mediterranean.

Dining Areas

Beach Bar

The open-sided makuti thatch beach bar provides the ideal outdoor seating area to enjoy the refreshing coastal breeze without the glare of the African sun. And, with spectacular views down the coast and out across the ocean, we think you’ll struggle to find a more inspiring and invigorating place to enjoy your breakfast and lunch.

Open all day from 8am to 6pm, the Beach Bar is the perfect place to sit back and relax while enjoying a cool drink and the gentle ocean breeze. Bar snacks are available.

Main Restaurant

At night the character of the main building is transformed to become the perfect venue for a romantic dinner under the stars. Designed in the style of a sultan’s garden palace with exotic gardens, dining here as the sun goes down is a very special experience.

An extensive buffet breakfast is served from 8am to 10am in the Beach Bar and includes a wide variety of pastries and breads baked in-house everyday by our very talented baker, David. A cooked breakfast is also available with eggs made to order and, depending on the mood of our chickens, these are often freshly laid from our farm with bright yellow yolks.

Lunch is served in the Beach Bar from 1pm, which is just a short stroll from the pool and beach. This is the perfect time to relax and enjoy a peaceful three course meal out of the midday sun.

Dinner is served in the main house from 7.30pm.

Dinner for children under eight is served slightly earlier than for adult diners at between 6pm and 7pm. This ensures that hungry youngsters don’t have to wait for their food. We only allow well behaved children in the restaurant after this time to ensure the evening dining experience is peaceful and calm for all.

We also understand that every so often parents need some time alone and we can arrange babysitters for a small fee. Please let us know upon booking whether you require this service as we need to arrange this in advance.

Bio Farm

Some of the ingredients you eat during your stay at Protea Hotel Amani Beach will have come from our Bio Farm up on the cliff side. The farm was inspired by the owners’ passion for sustainable farming, food integrity and quality as well as their profound respect for nature.

It is still a project in progress but with great potential. We plan to develop it over the next few years and to source more and more ingredients from our own land.

Organic practices

The Amani Beach Bio Farm uses natural pest control rather than synthetic pesticides, crop rotation, organic manure and water conservation techniques.

Such holistic farming practices eliminate water pollution, enhance biodiversity and preserve water, soil and natural nutrients.

Organic products
Today, Amani Beach Hotel has 1 hectare of land under organic cultivation producing a variety of crops from zucchini to cassava and from rocket to bananas. The tomato plants in particular thrive in the fertile soil and the hotel found itself inventing new ways to use the 500kg of tomatoes produced in August, including using their Italian expertise to produce delicious sun-dried tomatoes!

The farm also integrates livestock into the system and is home to eight happy dairy cows, countless free range chickens and a herd of contented goats who roam the four hectares of land on the cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean.

PRIVATE HIRE

Protea Hotel Amani Beach can be rented exclusively with full staff services for any period of time (pending existing guest bookings). This includes all 10 beach bungalows sleeping two adults each (with the option to add an extra two beds if required) and exclusive use of all facilities including the Main Restaurant and Beach Bar.

We are confident we can meet almost every request, giving you as much or as little attention as you want during your stay. Please call or email us to discuss your requirements and refer to our Rates & Reservations section for our standard prices.

Whether you’re looking for conferencing facilities, leadership team away day ideas, an offsite meeting venue or team building activities, Amani Beach Hotel offers a unique and inspirational environment,

We have good experience in running corporate events for local and international clients and can create a package bespoke to your needs.

Our hotel manager, Paolo, has organised team building events all over the world and we work with a trusted local partner, Human Capital, to provide a comprehensive range of business services of the highest international standard. Services include teambuilding, coaching, motivational programmes, conflict and change management. For more details on the services we can provide, please contact us.

Location

Our boutique beach hotel is located south of Dar es Salaam making it the perfect base to explore the Southern safari circuit. Many of our guests stay here as part of their safari beach holidays and use Protea Hotel Amani Beach as the perfect place to relax before and after a long but incredible few days on game drives.

Protea Hotel Amani Beach is located 33 km (approximately 1.5 hours drive) from the hustle and bustle of Dar es Salaam via the Kigambone ferry.

The Julius Nyerere International Airport is 60 km north of Amani Beach and direct transfers by light aircraft can be organised to our private landing strip taking approximately 10 minutes.

Directions by light aircraft:

Amani Beach Hotel Airstrip (also called AMANI GOMVU) : GPS Coordinates: S 06 56 31 / E 039 29 66

Directions by road:

1. Drive onto the ferry at KIVUKONI after the fish market.
2. After leaving the ferry at KIGAMBONI, drive straight ahead on the tarmac road for about 6km
3. You’ll arrive at a junction with a right turning with a big OilCom petrol station. Keep driving straight ahead, heading for KIMBIJI. Don’t take the right turn.
4. The drive to Amani Beach Hotel from this point is about 20km and will take approximately 40 minutes. The tarmac road will also turn into a dirt road.
5. After 20km you will see a big Amani Beach Hotel sign on the right hand side of the road. Turn left onto the sandy road down to the ocean and follow the signs to the hotel.
For a comfortable drive to Protea Hotel Amani Beach, a four wheel drive vehicle is recommended.

Transfers

We can arrange transfer from Dar es Salaam and Julius Nyerere Airport by 4x4 vehicles or by light aircraft. Transfer by road costs approximately $95 one way for a seven-seater vehicle. Transfer by plane costs approximately $270 one way for a private seven-seater aircraft. Please call us for the latest prices and to arrange collection.

Attractions

Horseback riding

Gallop, canter or trot along miles of unbroken white sand or explore the trails through the nearby forest on horseback.

Our neighbouring horse riding school will bring the horses down to the Beach Bar to pick you up and provide you with a helmet before you ride away. The school has experience instructors and horses to accommodate all levels of riders. We recommend this activity as a great way to see the area.

Cost is approximately $30 dollars per hour per person and varies according to group size.

Snorkelling day trip aboard an African Dhow

Enjoy exploring the coast and a small German island called Sinda aboard a traditional East African sailing vessel.

Soak up the sun on the Dhow and then cool off with your snorkel in the clear blue ocean. Equipment is included but make sure you bring plenty of sun cream!

Cost is approximately $35 per person for the day including a picnic lunch on an island.

Fishing

Amani Beach Hotel is ideally situated to make the most of some of Africa’s best deep sea and big game fishing including the waters around the legendary Latham and Mafia Island. We can arrange day trips as well as overnight tours on request but please do let us know as far in advance as possible.

Our main tours are run by Jason and Mady who are world-renowned in fishing. Since they started fishing together, they have notched up nine World Records from their boats, six of which were Dogtooth Tune Line Class Records. The last record was for an 85kg Dogtooth Tuna on a 30lb line caught by jigging. All equipment is provided except for jigging and popping. If guests wish to jig or pop they should also bring their own tackle.

A day trip of general trawling is limited to six people per boat, day trip casting / jigging to five people, and an overnight trip to four people. Prices are available on request but start at $1,000 USD per boat of up to six people for a full day channel fishing, including transfers to Dar es Salaam.

Swahili village visit

The village of Gomvu is a short walk from the hotel. We can organise a guide to show you around the village and meet some of the inhabitants to learn more about the life and customs of the local people. The tour takes around two hours and is complimentary for guests.

The guide is usually our very own Personnel Manager and local historian, Mze Badi. Please ask him all the questions you can think of and see if you can stump him as we’ve yet to see him without an answer!

 Safari add-on

Many of our guests stay at Amani Beach Hotel as a safari circuit add-on. After several long but immensely enjoyable days out on safari spotting the big five, this is the perfect place to rest and recuperate before heading home.

We can arrange safaris on request and are perfectly located to arrange trips to Tanzania’s almost untouched and magnificent Southern Safari Circuit. Here you’ll find the Selous Game Reserve, Africa's largest unexploited game reserve, as well as the Ruaha National Park, which is the largest Elephant sanctuary in Tanzania.

While we can organise trips to the Northern Circuit, including the famous Ngorogoro Crater, most of our guests prefer the remoteness of the Southern Circuit. Here you can spend a whole day without seeing a single other car. Combined with a stay at Amani Beach Hotel, this really is one of the most authentic and unspoilt safari beach holidays possible.

To maximise your time in Tanzania and to travel in style, we can also arrange fly-in safari’s from our own landing strip. Please give us plenty of advance warning (at least 7 working days) if you would like to book on a safari and organise a private charter.

Finally, it’s good to know that our managers, Paolo and Daya, are former managers of Lake Manze camp in the Selous. They are happy to provide advice on where to go, what to expect and what bring with you on safari so please contact us if you have any questions.

Wildlife

Guests and staff are not the only residents at Amani Beach Hotel and some of our permanent residents have shunned our luxurious beach bungalows in favour of the palm trees, golden sands and indigenous forest. . .

Our grounds are alive with hundreds of different animals, insects and birds including bush babies, velvet monkeys, baboons, mongoose, monitor lizards, dragon flies, dik dik and hundreds of luminescent butterflies.

Out on the beach you can see fish eagles and palm vultures soaring overhead. In season, you can witness the incredible event of turtles hatching from the white sands and instinctively making their way to the ocean. You can also sometimes see dolphins frolicking out in the ocean as well as giant turtles returning to the place they were born to lay a new nest.

If you’re a keen bird-watcher or butterfly enthusiast, please drop us an email to find out about all the different species you can find here. We’ve been documenting all the sightings for the last couple of years but are always adding to the list thanks to our guests and visiting experts. We can also arrange bird watching walks around the area with our extremely knowledgeable local guide.

Rooms

Sandy paths lead through the tropical gardens to our 10 individual beach bungalows, all with breathtaking views over the Indian Ocean.

In keeping with our ethos of working with natural and cultural traditions, the beach bungalows use local building techniques and natural materials to bring you traditional beauty without sacrificing modern comforts. This building style is known locally as a “beach banda” because of its makuti (palm leaf) thatched roof. The design is heavily influenced by the distinctive Afro-Arabian style unique to the Swahili Coast, combining rustic charm with exotic opulence.

Each beach bungalow boasts a large main bedroom with local hand-crafted furniture, a suite-like bathroom, dressing room area, fridge, personal safe and tea and coffee making facilities.

The centre point for the bedroom is a beautifully carved super-king size four poster bed, covered with bright cushions and exotic flowers. Billowing mosquito nets, air conditioning and ceiling fans ensure a peaceful night’s sleep to the sound of the ocean. 
 
The spacious bathrooms have a separate bath, walk in shower and double sink area with hairdryer. Our solar water heater guarantees you hot water 24 hours a day.

The absence of TV or radio reflects our guests’ wishes to immerse themselves in the beautiful surroundings and to listen instead to the sound of exotic birdsong and waves lapping upon the shore below.

The exterior

Every beach bungalow has its own private veranda with an inspiring view out to the glittering waters of the Indian Ocean.

Surrounded by exotic gardens, this is the perfect place for sitting and reading in the afternoon or watching the sun rise and set from the comfort of your hammock or outside seating area.

Mains electricity has not yet reached our corner of paradise. In the meantime, we have one main generator (and three back-up generators) which runs from 6pm to 8am to ensure a peaceful night’s sleep with air conditioning and ceiling fans.

During the day, we turn our generator off to conserve energy and reduce our impact on the environment. However our solar panels continue to charge under the sun’s rays, bringing our guests hot water all day.

And, of course, at night you have the bright light of the moon and stars to illuminate your way. . .