Butiama Beach Lodge

Our stay at Butiama Beach Lodge was very special. All the staff made us feel so welcome. The rooms are superb, the food is very good and the whole place is very well kept. The high light is of course seeing the whale sharks. The tour starts right at the beach and we can recommend Amin as a snorkeling guide. May other activities are possible....

A lovely holiday at Butiama. Excellent, service. Friendly staff. Peaceful and enjoyed our holiday. Lots of things to do, swimming with whale sharks, beach picnic, deep sea diving, snorkeling, back and neck massages on the beach, kayaking. Note, this is not a big commercial island, so everything is still primitive, on the island, but the stay at Butiama Lodge was great, and they catered for everything that we needed. Can recommend this lodge for quiet, peaceful holiday.

I had amazing 5 days by them, where I felt like a family! All the team was simply amazing, very friendly and made me feel home from the first moment. The diving was also super good, nice spacious boats, the diving team is very well trained and look after safety. I really enjoy my time there. Thank you especiallh to Hassan, Moudy and Aisha for the amazing time that we have spent together! Asante sana and see you soon again!

Butiama Lodge has a lot of character and charm, it also felt very intimate. We came to Mafia Island for the whale sharks and the location couldn’t have been better as all the boats are leaving directly from the beach opposite the Lodge. We hesitated for our stay between the lodges located in Chole Bay like Pole Pole and Kinasi Lodge but so glad Expert Africa recommended us Butiama Lodge as I cannot see what could have been better and Butiama is definitely better value. The rooms are nice and comfortable, it felt so safe that we didn’t even bother locking up our room when we left. No insects in our rooms whatsoever though as it was rainy season there were quite a lot of flies during the day on the beach. The beach is beautiful and just next to the Marine Park. The food was really good and no issues to cater for my gluten free diet. Unfortunately the choice of wines and quality were not that great (though cheap) and I would have gladly paid more for better quality wines. Stunning cocktails. For the whale sharks we used Afro Whale Shark Safari which is literally next to Butiama Lodge. I am sure that the whale shark safari through Butiama is also nice but we choose Afro as they are the first to leave in the morning (around 07:30) so more time spent without any other boats and they are owned and run by locals. Sabrina their guide is amazing and we saw 9 whale sharks on that day. For the diving we used Big Blu Dive Centre, owned by Butiama, and it was really good. Besides the whale sharks we went to see the flying foxes (giant fruit bats) in the mangrove with a kayak (at our disposal by the Lodge). This is not to be missed and amazing, we felt like in a Attenborough documentary. Special thanks to William, the manager, and all the staff who were doing all they can for us to have a great stay and sort any issues out like our cancelled return flights.

We stayed for 5 nights and this was the perfect place to end our holiday after 11 days of safari in Uganda and Tanzania. I wouldn't be surprised if Butiama translates to "relax & unwind" - no shoes required here as the beautiful white sand extends from the beach to the walkways around this small hotel/resort. Spacious and comfortable cabins right by the beach (complimentary laundry service too - a real bonus after our safari) and a great restaurant/bar - serving some of the most delicious grilled prawns we've ever had. The staff are super friendly - and we have to mention "Raman" who took us under his wing for several enjoyable nights out at the local "Cosovo" bar - great music and the beer is so cheap!! There is a good selection of activities to book onto each day. The highlight is swimming with the whale sharks - WOW - what an experience to be in the water with these majestic creatures as they swim by. We also enjoyed the snorkelling on the pristine reefs in the marine park. But most of all we enjoyed lying back on the comfortable beach sun loungers, reading a book, having a snooze and summoning the energy to grab another beer!!

I had a lovely, relaxing stay at Butiama. The staff are kind and welcoming, it’s spacious, the beach is lovely, and there are lots of activities they will arrange for you if you’re in the mood to be adventurous—swimming with whale sharks, snorkeling, sand bar picnics, island tours, etc. You can also easily walk to the village and the island on the whole is very safe. The food is good and they also have free water! If you are planning to spend a lot of time in the marine park for diving you might want to checkout their sister lodge Big Blu on that side of the island. Many people did a few nights there and then a few nights at Butiama.