Mafia Island Lodge

Myself a a friend spent three nights at Mafia Island Lodge, and loves our time there. The location is wonderful, with a view of palm trees down to the beach, and a 2 minute walk to Big Blu where all the excursions leave from. We stayed in the superior rooms which were comfortable, clean and light. Great airconditioning (essential in Mafia in Feb!) and a little private patio with views over the garden. The staff absolutely make this place. Iris the hotel manager is welcoming and warm, and all her staff, from the waiters to the Masai guards, are delightful and professional. Food was great, we went for the full board option. We especially appreciated our delicious packed lunches when out on excursions that were all in containers and with mental cutlery - no single use plastic or styrofoam, hooray! Looking forward to seeing the results of the renovations and hope to return again. Thank you, Asante Sana!

Stayed here in 2020 and 2021, it used to be good and convenient, now they are under new ownership and the lodge has lost all its charm. The rooms are of a decent size and the ñocation is convenient. However, they are cutting down trees (which for a Marine reserve park just blows my mind)… they are creating a negative environment and getting into fights with the community. Not a nice environment for holidays. I would avoid. Many great options around with a more sustainable practice.

Mafia Island Lodge had been closed for nearly two years for refurbishment after a change of ownership so we were honoured to be the first guests invited for lunch just prior to the reopening as part of the restaurants final training program. We enjoyed a beautiful and plentiful 4 course meal comprising local ingredients, fresh seafood, home made pasta and one of the best deserts we have ever had made by the in-house pastry chef. Everything we sampled was beautifully presented, perfectly cooked and extremely tasty. Portion sizes were very generous. The open dining area of the lodge which overlooked the gardens and the beach was a lovely place to sit back, relax and enjoy the attentive and very professional service from the new team. Though we were unable to stay at the lodge on this occasion, if the restaurant is anything to go by we're confident that the refurbished rooms will be of a similar high standard and would be happy to recommend this as a perfect place to stay on Mafia Island. It's located very close to the beach with easy access to diving and snorkelling facilities as well as an array of beachside bars. A huge thank you to Iris and all her team for inviting us to this memorable lunch - we wish you all the best for the reopening (late November 2023) and hope to visit again one day. With very best wishes from David & Christine - Sydney, Australia

We spent a fantastic 11 days here. Each day was amazing. Located at the beach with beautiful garden and just a few meters from diving center. Incredible Staff and kitchen. I can only say that Mafia Island Lodge Team with Iris is a symbol of kindness and helpfulness.

We stayed at Mafia Island Lodge for 11 days over Christmas and our expectations were exceeded! Iris and her staff do a great job of making you feel at home, doing everything they can to help you relax and are incredibly welcoming. The food was outstanding (though to much was available causing waist expansion) and the rooms were comfortable and well air conditioned for the heat. Check out the Dive centre for tours, David and his team will steer you in the right direction. We had a great experience swimming with whale sharks, we swam with 6 at one time using Kitu Kiblu as our guides. Stay at Mafia Island Lodge, you will arrive as a guest but leave as a friend. A special thank you to Iris for the help she provided when needed. All hotel managers should aspire to this level of service!!!

Where can I begin…. For starters the lodge is absolutely beautiful, upon arrival we were blown away by the size of the dining/lounge area that looks straight out into the ocean. We were greeted by the friendliest staff I’ve come in contact with in a long time. Smiling faces that were extremely helpful with everything we needed, whether it was a ride to town or help deciding excursions and planning out our stay. The management was also wonderful. Always available and quick to help. We stayed here for 8 days but I would have stayed for much longer if I didn’t have to get back home for work. Me and my girlfriend will for sure be returning. If you plan on coming to mafia island, do yourself a favor and stay with Mafia island lodge!

We stayed 1 week at the Mafia Island Lodge to wind down and relax after a 1 week Safari. We are vivid snorklers, but do not dive. We received room Number 1 , which was a very generous , spacey and very comfortable room, with a view up to the beach .(picture) Beach however is 100m walking distance thru the resort property. We had sunbeds in front of the room in the garden , and sunbeds are available at the beach . The Resort is within the marine park of mafia, thus we need to pay 25USD / person/ day as a fix cost on top of the resort fee . ( See my review of the marine park) . We had booked halfbord, the breakfast is very good in quality and variation. Dinner was ala carte in our case, and we enjoyed it a lot, particularly , since for the last days, the resort management had returned to duty on site, which boosted the quality of dinner. ( See picture of our seafood plate , which was gorgeous !!!) The staff is very commited , professional and so sweet, we loved just staying in the resort. . From the resort , there is direct beach access , which is not a given for many other resorts on the Mafia Island. From the beach there are also limited snorkeling options accesible. As a summary, this is a very quite , but also comfortable place to relax, beautiful beach with limited snorkeling.The people on Mafia are very sweet and friendly, it is a pleasure to be their guests. Thanks to Iris &Guilano , Abdallah, Benitha , Moody and all the other staff ....