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From the helicopter window, Jumeirah Thanda Island looked unreal, a circle of white sand dropped into the middle of the Indian Ocean. Five hectares of beach and tropical greenery, completely surrounded by deep blue water.

When guests arrived by air, they were welcomed with Swahili music performed by the island team, an arrival that instantly conveyed warm hospitality with the feeling of a complete escape.

Jumeirah Thanda Island is located in Tanzania’s Shungimbili Island Marine Reserve, around 30 kilometres off the mainland and within reach of Mafia Island. Recently brought into the Jumeirah portfolio, it is the first destination in the newly launched Jumeirah Privé collection, a group of properties defined by privacy at the highest level. Here, guests do not book a suite; they book the entire island. One island. One stay. Full exclusivity.

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The main villa includes five oceanfront suites, each opening directly onto an infinity pool deck with the Indian Ocean only steps away. Two double-storey bandas on the beach offer four additional bedrooms, allowing up to 18 guests to stay comfortably. The property includes an ocean jacuzzi and a long list of activities, including sailing, paddleboarding, jet skis, and guided snorkelling excursions. 

This is beyond luxurious, with a price tag to match. According to partner booking platforms, exclusive use of Thanda Island typically starts from around $33,300 per night, with a minimum stay of multiple nights. That rate usually includes the villa, the bandas, and the run of the island. Helicopter transfers for smaller groups can be bundled in. It is the kind of place you come to with family or a tight group of friends, and then forget that the rest of the world exists.

Accommodation on the island. 

Currently, the island's private chef, Spanish executive chef Javi Puig, builds menus around preferences, from light breakfasts after early dives to long Swahili-inspired dinners on the beach. Nothing felt like a standard buffet line. Every meal is planned, from the way the fish is marinated to when dessert is served. 

Behind the scenes, the island’s story is as much about the people there as it is about the place. One of them is captain and operations manager Maya de Villiers. She grew up on a tiny island near Mafia and speaks Swahili as her first language. She then went to a boarding school in South Africa, studied economics and marketing at a university, to then a demanding career in Mediterranean yachting.

She first came to Thanda to cover another captain’s month off. “It was supposed to be four weeks, extra money and a change of scene,” she told Khaleej Times back in October. When the captain resigned, she was offered the job. At first, she turned it down. However, months later, sitting in a cold Dutch shipyard, she changed her mind and called back.

Now, almost two years on, she manages the lacklustre side of paradise, from fuel and food deliveries to staff rotations. “It is still a workplace,” she said. “We joke that we get paid in sunsets, but there are days when logistics are a real challenge. You cannot just run to a supermarket when you run out of fresh lettuce. Sometimes we send a helicopter to Dar es Salaam just to bring back what we need for guests. You have to find solutions without dropping the level of service.”

There is also the mental work of living on an island. Staff often work three months on, one month off. “You live where you work,” Maya said. “You cannot go home and switch off. After a while, you can feel a bit of cabin fever, which is why that one month away is so important. Everyone comes back with new energy.”

Another key figure is Rianne Laan, the resident marine biologist. She grew up in the Netherlands, studied biology in Amsterdam and Wageningen, and always found herself drawn to anything related to the sea. A reef restoration internship in Kenya shifted her career towards field work away from office work. Through a chance contact, she came to Thanda in 2017 for what was meant to be a three-month project. She never left.

Rianne Laan, the island’s resident marine biologist

“When I arrived, all we really knew was that there was a reef here and a reef there,” she said. “So the first step was to map what we actually have, which sites are in good condition, which are degraded.” From there, she launched coral nurseries, growing small fragments in controlled conditions before transplanting them back onto damaged sections of reef or onto artificial structures designed to mimic natural rock.

Over time, the work expanded into partnerships with regional organisations. Thanda now collaborates with the Marine Megafauna Foundation on whale shark research, a project on blacktip reef sharks, and Sea Sense on sea turtle conservation and nesting beach protection along the Tanzanian coast.

“When guests help plant corals or photograph a whale shark’s spot pattern for identification, they can see exactly how their holiday connects to research,” Rianne said.

Many of the team members are from nearby Mafia Island and surrounding communities. Boat crews, spotters, and housekeeping staff often have family histories tied to these waters, from fishing to guiding. That connection shapes how guests experience the place. Service is attentive, but it never feels stiff. There is an ease in how staff move around the island, as if they are at home and you are a welcome guest inside that home.

The island includes a community outreach component on Mafia Island, where Thanda supports education through school facilities and enrichment programs. Jumeirah also contributes to the Star for Life initiative, which focuses on youth empowerment in Tanzania and South Africa, aligning the destination’s philanthropic work with broader efforts across the brand’s resorts.

In many ways, Thanda Island shows where luxury travel is heading. Guests still get private chefs, a full team at their disposal, a long list of activities and a helicopter waiting when they land. But they also get context. They hear from a marine biologist who has spent years cataloguing the reef, a captain who grew up on a nearby island, and local staff whose families know these waters better than any visitor ever will.

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