Tragedy, trash and torture. By promoting conscious traveling, I will not allow my participants to watch it again. Here's what we witnessed: - the whole reserve is filled with rubbish, the staff swear that they clean it every day, and you can see that the rubbish is very old and lies for a long time. - a turtle swallowing a plastic bag in front of our eyes ... we drew the attention of the park staff who ignored the topic. One of the two employees was involved in an extremely important project - lying face down on a wall in the reserve, the other was watching over and counting donations - his reaction was too late, he did not help the turtle, he cleaned up 3 plastic bags around him, leaving the rest of the garbage (caps). plastic, foil, cookie wrappers, bills ...) - in the park, on the ground, there is an abandoned metal frame, which apparently can hurt turtles .. - you can write a lot more about what a prison with a cage for small turtles is, how some look barely alive .. It is sad that people give 5 stars for such places, only because the tortoise will eat everything out of their hands and they can take a photo with it. I sincerely hope that changes will come, that this place will be a real sanctuary for turtles.

we were so shocked about the conditions. actually the turtles have some space to escape from the tourists but they just get fed there, so all the turtles wait in front of the entrance. and there is plastic garbage everywhere (much more than you see on the pictures!) but not just from the tourists also from the feeding because they get leaves out of big plastic bags, which dissolve and you can find these long plastic strings everywhere. also the fences are broken and the poor turtles often get stuck there and hurt themselves when they try to get out of it. the most horrifying is the capture of the small ones. they are in a small and dark cage for ten years! very dirty and smelly. the staff says that they would clean it everyday and that they need to be in there for ten years so they don't get crushed from the bigger ones outside. it was a very sad experience. with not much more effort this could be a beautiful place for the turtles. please clean the whole area, renovate it with grass and sand, repair the fence and get a much bigger area for them to escape from the tourists and a complete separate own area for the small ones.

This is a clear message to the management of this sanctury: Please create a safe place for your animals. Clean up the park, remove the litter and wires that linger all over the place. Make a better and larger cage for the younger turtles, or just let them wander free. You will attract happy customers when you invest the fees in good accommodation for the turtles!

Cute tortoises but they seem to be in a poor situation as they're crowded in tiny paths. However, it felt good to feed them. There's a large cage to the right that houses the baby tortoises. There's a sign that says that feeding is until 4 pm, but we were allowed to feed them after that time (it was after 5 pm when we got it). Note that the employees will demand you to pay a fee (they call it a tip to help the tortoises) of whatever amount.

We were extremely disappointed. The turtles have to live next to / with plastic, metallic wires or dirt. In addition to that, they want an entrance fee od 4$… also when you leave they are asking you for a donation. This is ridiculous- please spend the money on the turtles and renovate the enclosures :/

Not a sanctuary. I was quite excited to see the tortoise but was really disappointed with how they were looked after. Considering around 500 people visit the island a day, each paying entry, drinks and food costing 10x what they do on the mainland, you'd think they'd invest some of that back into making a humane environment for these incredible animals. Theres a small concrete and metal cage with a hundred hatchlings crammed in like sardines. A couple of tortoise were mating which I found entertaining from a distance but it was ruined by a group of tourists loudly stomping over to pet and force cabbage in their faces while they were at it. I saw a child stood ontop of another tortoise while her parents clapped and took photos. The fenced off grounds to the sanctuary is huge but mostly barren apart from a small area by the entrance. They should invest in developing the area to make it more comfortable for the animals and to spread out visitors. A real nursery should be made for the hatchlings and staff should be scattered around to make sure everyone is being safe and respectful instead of all sitting in the enterance lobby. This is the polar opposite of the experience I had at the turtle sanctuary which I found very professional and ethical.

The tortoises were really sweet, friendly and appreciating some scratch. A lot of them were waiting by the entrance to get some lettuce from the tourists, who had it from the staff. They all have their age written on their shells and oldest one is 196-year old! However there were some aspects that I did not like. The tortoises did not have a proper hiding place, those who wanted to hide from the tourists went far under the fence and I was relieved to see that at least nobody tried to harass them, but on the other hand they had no water access up there. This brings me to the next point - there is nobody monitoring the area and checking if people are behaving around the tortoises correctly. I saw one little girl sitting on a tortoise for a picture, and there was nobody from the staff to react. Also, I did not like how poor tortoise babies were kept in a small, dark space, with limited access to the sunlight. Would be great to address these things.

If you love animals, PLEASE DONT COME HERE!!! How the tortoises are kept in this place is the most disgusting, abominable way, in which I have ever seen animals being treated. Trash is lying around everywhere, sharp ends of old fences are not being removed and neither the staff nor the local guides provide any instructions. Hundreds of people are crammed into a place that's supposed to be a sanctuary and the worst of them are knocking on the tortoises shells or sitting on them like they're ponies at a circus (see photo). And the saddest thing is, those are some of the most majestic and special beings around. The oldest tortoise is 197 years old. Let that sink in for a second - she was born about 40 years before Abraham Lincoln became president and 2 years after Napoleon died. And now she's being treated like a bad sandwich thrown into the trashcan of a nasty old fastfood-restaurant.

Tortoise's are magnificent but I think they should be better protected. This is supposed to be a sanctuary for them. But tour guides should not be encouraging their clients to kick the hind legs of a turtle to make them walk for a picture. We weren't there at feeding time but there were still a lot of cabbage leaves on the ground at 12pm, which you could feed the turtles. Also where does the $4 for entrance and $3 for conservation go? The facilities need to be maintained better.

We paid 70000 shillings for a return boat trip and guided tour for 2 people. Entrance fee and taxes was an additional 7usd. Be careful as some will charge a lot more for the same trip. Well worth a visit, the old prison is interesting, but the stars of the show are the tortoises. You get to hand feed them and they love a scratch.

Please look after these tortoises more. We were so sad to see how they were treated. our guide told us when we went in not to feed the tortoises at the front because everyone feeds them and they never move. As we went in, everyone was feeding a handful of tortoises at the front who looked over weight and no staff were telling them not to despite being sat 2 meters away. There were not any staff walking around the enclosure checking on the animals and making sure they were not being mistreated. Tour guides were tickling them under the armpits to get them to stand up and pose for photos. The enclosure is baron, there appeared to be only one small muddy pool of water down in a pit, that was really difficult for the tortoises to get to, and a small puddle. There was plastic on the floor that they could eat. All the babies are kept in a tiny cage to stop people stealing them. There was no space, they were crawling all over each over and we were told they spend about 3 years in there until they are big enough not to be stolen. It wouldn’t take much to make this into a real sanctuary - a clean environment, plenty of fresh water, rules on how tourists and guides interact with the tourists and welfare officers enforcing them and making sure the animals are healthy. The animals welfare must come first ahead of pleasing tourists. Please invest more in making this a responsible tourist activity.

Nice place, you can see a big age of tortoises more than 160 years, you can swim and do a snorkeling

Its on island called prison island. Seen big tortoise that are nearly 200 years old and well kept. Would recommend to contribute towards wildlife.

Big cute tortoises come and beg for food. You are handed several branches of lettuce and free to feed them. Avoid wearing flip flops inside the sanctuary as it is quite rocky and who knows if these turtles bite on your naked feet. Plus turtle feces are everywhere. Almost always packaged with sightseeing of british slave facility a few minutes away inside the island. (called facility as it was technically never used as a slave pen or market, but more of a quarantine zone)

Transportation to the island is provided by boats from the cost of Stone Town. The person who brought you is waiting for you until the end of the trip. There is an entry fee around $7 but usually included in your trip budget. A few leaves are given at the entrance. The feeling of touching them is priceless because the turtles are wonderful creatures but life conditions of them are not heartwarming clearly. If you are planning to sit on them and think that it will be a nice pic, please don’t visit this habitat. Nevertheless, the island and visiting it is one times experience.

I recommend

Weird place, I expected a bit more. Cool to see this animals so close, but the prison itself is just a few empty rooms. The turtles were sitting in a large amount of salad. It stunk and it seemed the animals were sitting in their own poo. Alle he signs said don’t feed and touch but the propel didn’t care. So I guess the place needs more cleaning. Way too many people for this small “zoo”. When I visit a place like Zanzibar (or this sanctuary) I would expect more educated and wealthy people to behave better. This trip to prison island felt like an average school trip to the zoo.

Nothing special to see…small island with a lot of turtles, living in bad conditions…

It is situated on the prison Island where you can go by ship and enjoy it very much. Here is also a prison. Now it is converted into a hotel You should come here and enjoy.

NOT A SANCTUARY - This is a shady zoo, without any security for the animals. You pay to get in, and they don't care what people do to the animals. There are a few signs that indicate 'Do not feed or touch the animals' but no enforcement and people are just idiot. I even saw a father trying to lift one up. Babies are kept in a small cage, without room to walk around, teenagers are also in a cage, a bit bigger (about 2x4 meters) but with like 40 of them in there, this is not acceptable. Even saw a couple going over the fence to take better pictures.

Nice place for a trip from Stone town. You can see a few age old tortoises and a few peacocks.

A place that is worth a visit. The transfer from Stonetown and back should be around 15usd and the entrance fee on the island is 7usd. We did not hire a guide since it did not seem necessary as the island is rather small. What we really enjoyed was the view from the island and of course the giant tortoises. They are simply adorable.

We love to see animals of this kind but they call it sanctuary and is nothing to do with a proper one. They make you pay twice for the entry, one is suppose to be for their conservation but then there are like tons of turtles in a cage during 10 years with the silly excuse to protect them. Please let’s all try to do sustainable tourism and not torture animals for us to enjoy. Stawi selection is a good option if you want to do conscious tourism.

We regret going. The tortoise are kept in bad conditions, especially the baby ones who are in a tiny mud patch cage. The island is beautiful, if not for the tortoise prison. We were taken snorkeling after our visit, I was shocked to see that we were anchored to a beautiful piece of coral...this explains why the underwater world here is so damaged and dead. All in all, an outing that left us feeling sad inside.

Great to see ,perhaps not worth the money we paid. The tortoise were wonderful. A pity the island is so neglected. Thanks

Nice place with giant tortoises. 🐢

Super cute turtles

A place where you can see and pet turtles. You can also see dikdiks and peacocks. Entrance costs $15/person + transportation costs (depending on the guide and how much you bargain). The sanctuary itself requires a maximum of 1 hour. Inside there is a restaurant and a museum part where you can read more about the history of Prison Island and the island of Zanzibar itself. Outside there is a nice beach where you can spend more time. I give it 4 stars because the price for such an attraction is quite high.

Make sure you get a good guide.

Very interesting historical tour with the plus of having 150+ years old tortoises next to us!

Forget about the animal welfare in this place. Tortoises are overcrowded, especially the baby ones, poorly fed and the whole area is full of plastics which tortoises are eating and that staff are fully ignoring. The only thing that they are ‘conserving’ is the tourist money. Poor!! Many Tortoises were even stuck and nobody seemed to care, but there were plenty of people trying to take tips who could have dealt with these.

I am writing this review based on reviews and photos of other people and dedicating it to the management of the place. I was going to visit it today but now seeing all this photos and videos I will only visit it when you will fix the place which includes removing the garbage, and letting turtles have more space. I don’t want to support greedy careless management who cant spend 1% of their income to support their own business. So frustrating 😼

The visit to Prison Island is something you must do when in Stone town. I liked all of it, the boat trip to and from there, even the ocean was very rough, it was an experience for it self. The history of the prison and the island, the turtles, all together it was such a great experience. Loved it!

It is a beautiful island to visit. There are soo many old turtles that you can feed them with cabbage. This island was originally a prison but now prison was converted to a restaurant. I found a boat for 40 thousand tnz shilling. We were just 2 person. You can also pay 8 thousand shilling for entrance. U spend like 1 and half an hour in the island. I recommend you to visit that island.