# Pwani > The coast region wrapped around Dar es Salaam: the old caravan terminus at Bagamoyo, the mangrove maze of the Rufiji delta, the marine park at Mafia, and the only national park in the country where elephants walk onto the beach. Canonical: https://seeyoutanzania.com/guides/pwani Last updated: 2026-09-17 Edited by: Kabeer Dalvi (https://seeyoutanzania.com/about) ## At a glance - **Region:** Pwani (Coast) Region - **Population:** 2,024,947 (2022 census) - **Area:** 32,547 km² - **Capital:** Kibaha - **Surrounds:** Dar es Salaam, on three sides ## Map of Pwani Region **Districts and councils:** Bagamoyo · Chalinze · Kibaha · Kibaha Town · Kibiti · Kisarawe · Mafia · Mkuranga · Rufiji Councils as counted in the 2022 census (National Bureau of Statistics). ## The coast before Dar es Salaam This shore was Swahili long before it was colonial. The **Kaole** ruins outside Bagamoyo, with their thirteenth-century mosque and pillar tombs, belong to the network of coastal towns that traded with Arabia, Persia and India across the monsoon. In the nineteenth century **Bagamoyo** became the mainland terminus of the caravan routes from Lake Tanganyika, and the departure point for ivory and for enslaved people shipped to Zanzibar. It was the first capital of **German East Africa**, until the administration moved to Dar es Salaam in **1891** for its deeper harbour — the decision that turned Bagamoyo into a quiet town and Dar into a city. The region that remains is the coast around that city: nine districts running from the Tanga border in the north to the Rufiji and the Lindi border in the south, and out to **Mafia Island**. Two Tanzanian presidents, Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Jakaya Kikwete, came from it. ## Coconuts, cashew, and the spill from the city Farming employs the large majority of working people: **coconuts**, **cashew**, oranges, mangoes, cassava and rice, grown on smallholdings along the coast and in the river valleys. At Bagamoyo, the Bakhresa group's estate is one of the country's newest sugar producers; see [sugar in Tanzania](https://seeyoutanzania.com/sectors/agriculture/sugar). The **Rufiji** — Tanzania's largest river — floods a wide plain each year, and that flood is the basis of rice farming, of the delta's **prawn** fishery and of East Africa's largest stand of **mangrove** forest. Upstream, at Stiegler's Gorge, the **Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station** now holds much of that water back; it is the biggest single change to the river in its history, and its effects on the delta are being watched closely. The other economy is Dar es Salaam's. Industry, warehousing and housing have spread out along the roads through **Kibaha**, **Chalinze** and **Mkuranga**, and a great deal of the region's growth — its population nearly doubled between the 2012 and 2022 censuses — is the city arriving. **What the region lives on** - **Coconut & cashew:** The coastal cash crops - **Rice & cassava:** Staples, especially in the Rufiji floodplain - **Fishing & prawns:** The coast and the delta - **Industry:** Factories spreading out of Dar es Salaam - **Tourism:** Bagamoyo, Saadani and Mafia ## Bush to the beach The coast is Swahili in language, food and rhythm: fishing villages, mosques, coconut and mango shade, dhows pulled up on the sand. Inland, the **Zaramo**, **Kwere**, **Doe** and **Ndengereko** farm; along the water, the culture is the one that made Swahili the language of the region. **Saadani National Park**, north of Bagamoyo, is the country's only coastal park: bush, river and beach in the same place, with elephant, buffalo and green turtles nesting on the shore. **Mafia Island**, administratively part of this region, sits off the delta with a marine park around it — reefs, whale sharks between about October and March, and a diving reputation out of all proportion to its size. And **Bagamoyo** keeps its arts college, its ruins and a long, slow waterfront, an hour and a half from the capital. ## Towns, parks and places across Pwani Region ### Bagamoyo (Historic town) The caravan terminus and first colonial capital, with the Kaole ruins and the arts college. [Read the guide](https://seeyoutanzania.com/guides/bagamoyo) ### Mafia Island (Island) Reefs, whale sharks and a marine park, off the mouth of the Rufiji delta. [Read the guide](https://seeyoutanzania.com/guides/mafia) ### Saadani National Park (National park) The only coastal national park in Tanzania, shared with Tanga Region. [Park page](https://seeyoutanzania.com/parks/saadani) ### The Rufiji delta (Wetland) East Africa's largest mangrove forest, and the prawn and rice country behind it. ### Nyerere National Park (National park) The largest national park in the country reaches into the region's south-west. [Park page](https://seeyoutanzania.com/parks/nyerere) ### Kibaha and Chalinze (Towns) The regional capital and the highway junction west of Dar — the working, industrial side of the region. ## What to see ### Kaole ruins *Heritage.* A thirteenth-century mosque and pillar tombs in the palms outside Bagamoyo. ### Saadani National Park *National park.* Game drives, a boat trip up the Wami, and a beach where turtles nest. Three to four hours from Dar. ### Mafia Island Marine Park *Marine park.* Reef diving, whale sharks in season, and a quiet alternative to Zanzibar. ### The Rufiji delta *Wetland.* Mangrove channels, prawn fishers and birds. Go by boat from Kibiti or Utete with a local guide. ### Bagamoyo waterfront *Historic town.* Carved doors, the old customs house and the fish market, with the arts college nearby. ### The coast road south *Journey.* Coconut villages and river crossings from Dar towards Kilwa — the old shore, still mostly undeveloped. ## Before you go - **Getting there:** Everything here is reached from Dar es Salaam: Bagamoyo is about an hour and a half north, Saadani three to four hours, and Mafia a short flight or a ferry-and-road journey. - **Getting around:** A vehicle for the mainland; boats for the delta and the islands. The main highways are good, the side roads much less so. - **When to come:** June to October is dry and calm. The long rains, March to May, make delta travel difficult. - **Marine park:** Mafia's marine park charges an entry fee, collected per day of stay. Saadani is a TANAPA park with standard fees. - **Respect:** A conservative, largely Muslim coast. Cover shoulders and knees away from the beach. - **Money:** Shillings. ATMs in Bagamoyo, Kibaha and Mafia town; carry cash in the villages. ## Checked against - [2022 Population and Housing Census — administrative units](https://www.nbs.go.tz/statistics/topic/census-2022), National Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania - [Pwani Region — area, districts, economy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwani_Region), Wikipedia - [Saadani National Park](https://www.tanzaniaparks.go.tz/nationalparks/saadani), Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) - [Nyerere National Park](https://www.tanzaniaparks.go.tz/nationalparks/nyerere), Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) - [Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station — Rufiji, capacity and controversy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Nyerere_Hydropower_Station), Wikipedia - [Mafia Island Marine Park](https://www.marineparks.go.tz/), Marine Parks and Reserves Unit, Tanzania