Palm View by YapYap — A Closed Community on Zanzibar's East Coast

The beginning

Two arrivals to Paje, eight years before we meet.

Kamila landed in Paje in December 2014, arriving from Poland. Michael arrived from Denmark twenty-one days later. We lived a kilometre apart for the next eight years without meeting — same beach bars, same fishermen, same sunset tide.

On 8 January 2023 we finally met — at a kite school, both there to see the same friend who introduced us. Our families in Poland live twenty-five kilometres from each other. Five thousand kilometres from where we both grew up, the thread finally connected.

East is what came out of that slow recognition. Not a fund, not a chain — a private community we are building for ourselves, and for a small circle of fellow dreamers who want to stand here beside us.

Introduction

There are places in the world that still feel like a secret.

Zanzibar is one of them — an island where the morning light arrives slowly over the Indian Ocean, where coconut palms lean toward the water, where the pace of a day is set by the tide and the breeze. For those who have been, the island does not need explanation. For those who have not, no explanation will be enough until they arrive.

Palm View is a closed community in the spirit of YapYap, on the east coast of Zanzibar — set behind a gate, woven through tropical gardens, opening toward a beach that remains one of the most beautiful in the world.

This is not a rental, not a timeshare. Palm View is a home on Zanzibar — registered title, owned outright, yours to keep, pass on, or sell when the time is right. Members of the community will know exactly what they have.

Reference board

The feel of the place,
before a single wall is poured.

The materials, the palette, and the rooms we are drawing toward — set out on a single board. Carved teak, Tanga stone, antique brass, linen, rattan. Sand to teak brown, with sage and olive in the planting and charcoal as the punctuation.

ProjectPalm View

LocationBwejuu · TBC

ClientA small circle of fellow dreamers

PhaseI.A · Visual direction

BoardI / II

Date2026

Palm View visual direction board — interior photographs of living room, master bedroom, garden pool, outdoor bath and bathroom; materials swatches for carved teak, light teak, Tanga stone, textured plaster, natural fibre, antique brass, rattan and linen; palette of sand, warm taupe, caramel, teak brown, sage green, olive green, deep green, charcoal and antique brass.

Board I — visual direction. The Palm View aesthetic on a single page: tropical and natural, warm and inviting, crafted in the detail, indoor and outdoor lived as one room. The renderings on Board II below put the same vocabulary into rooms.

Board II · Lighting

Bright at six.
Hushed by ten.

Every room is wired to dim. The same warm fixtures, settled to the right note for the time of night — drag the line on each plate to see the same room at six o'clock and after dark.

Bathroom — after dark — Bathroom — coral-stone basin, brass pendants, garden through to the pool.

Bathroom — six o'clock — Bathroom — coral-stone basin, brass pendants, garden through to the pool.

Master bedroom — after dark — Master bedroom — carved headboard panel, linen sheers, pool beyond.

Master bedroom — six o'clock — Master bedroom — carved headboard panel, linen sheers, pool beyond.

Wardrobe — after dark — Wardrobe — solid teak, dark smoked finish, custom brass · 260 × 240 × 60 cm.

Wardrobe — six o'clock — Wardrobe — solid teak, dark smoked finish, custom brass · 260 × 240 × 60 cm.

Lifestyle

Days that remember you.

Coffee on the terrace before the heat arrives. A swim, then breakfast at the pool. The garden quiet at noon, lanterns lit at six, sushi down the road. Cocktails on the dune at sunset. A bath under the open ceiling, candles, the night birds in the palms. The same day, every day, for as long as you want it.

The full lifestyle plate set — breakfast, cocktails, candles, the spa hour — is being shot at Bwejuu and Paje through 2026. Joining the list puts you on the early-access channel.

Life On Property

Everything within a short walk of every door.

The community is built for how people actually want to live in Zanzibar — a padel court at the edge of the palms, a yoga pavilion opening to the sea breeze, a pool surrounded by shaded daybeds, a juice bar that opens before sunrise, a co-working space for those who have learned that the best offices have ocean views.

Yoga Pavilion

Open-air, sea breeze. Morning and evening programming daily.

Padel Court

Single regulation court at the edge of the palms. Racquets on-site.

The Table

Pool-side dining, chef's tasting on request.

Co-Working

Quiet room with fiber internet, phone booths, shade from the afternoon sun.

The Juice Bar

Open before sunrise. Cold-pressed, fresh fruit, coffee, quiet company.

Map of Unguja (Zanzibar). Amber halos highlight Michamvi, Bwejuu, Paje and Jambiani — the east-coast stretch we are scouting.

Scouting · Michamvi → Jambiani

The plot

We are still choosing where.
We know why.

The east coast of Zanzibar — the twenty-kilometre stretch between Paje and Michamvi — is the land we know best. Reef-protected lagoons, low-rise villages, long white beaches, air that hasn't been rebuilt for tourism.

We are scouting now. Six plots under serious review, meetings with the village councils, due diligence on titles, walking the tide at different times of year. The land we choose will be the land we would pick for ourselves — because it is for ourselves.

We expect to choose the plot in 2026. When we do, the homes are released to the list — list members are contacted first, in the order they joined. The community is kept small by design.

The four villages

Four names on a map,
four different mornings.

The stretch we are scouting runs from Michamvi in the north to Jambiani in the south — about twenty kilometres of white-sand coast, one paved road behind it, reef a kilometre off shore. Each village has its own feel. Here is what we know, and what their names mean to the people who have always lived here.

01 · North

Michamvi

Swahili · "the tamarind place"

A peninsula of palms and tamarind trees that separates Chwaka Bay from the open Indian Ocean. The quietest of the four — a handful of high-end stays, the Rock Restaurant on a tidal outcrop, no real nightlife. Michamvi Kae on the west side is the only stretch of Zanzibar's east coast where you can watch the sun set over the sea.

Why we are looking here — the privacy, the two-beach access, the afternoon shade of the tamarinds.

02 · Centre-north

Bwejuu

Swahili · "place of stones" (from bwe, "rock")

The longest uninterrupted white-sand beach on the island, a shallow lagoon at low tide wide enough to walk out into, and coral rag underfoot that gave the village its name. Seaweed farms still worked by women from the same families who started them. Slowly growing — a few small hotels, mostly private homes set back from the dune.

Why we are looking here — the beach is extraordinary and still quiet, and the titles along this stretch are among the cleanest on the coast.

03 · Centre

Paje

Swahili · "a broad, open place" (origin contested, older usage "where dhows unload")

The beating heart of the east coast. Flat reef-protected water that makes Paje the best beginner kite lagoon in Africa. A dozen beach bars, a food market, a sushi counter we own (KAMI), and a permanent population of kiters who never quite leave. Busier than the other three, and that is the point — Paje is where your friends meet you.

Why we are looking here — guests want amenities within walking distance. Paje has them all.

04 · South

Jambiani

Swahili · often linked to jamba — "the hidden place", or to an older settlement name

The most traditional Swahili fishing village of the four. Narrow, walkable, low-rise. Dhows pulled up on the sand every morning. Cafés and small guesthouses owned by the families who live in the coral-stone houses behind them. Quieter than Paje, more settled than Bwejuu, and by far the most intact piece of Swahili village life on the east coast.

Why we are looking here — a village that still works as a village, and where building takes real conversation with the elders.

The design

We are already
drawing the homes.

While the plot is being chosen, the homes are being designed. European architectural discipline applied to Zanzibar's materials. Full-height sliding doors to the garden. Coral-stone feature walls. Dhow-wood beams, brass, linen.

An open kitchen you can entertain from, with the spec of a restaurant line. A waterfall bath outdoors. A pool that disappears into the horizon. We do not strip things back to hit a price.

Brass

Dhow wood

Linen

Terrazzo

Coral stone

Deep teal

Early palette — renders of the villa and apartment interiors will follow on request. Ask us for the deck.

Investment

The numbers, on the table.

Tourism net yields in this segment of the east coast run at six to nine per cent on operating units. Title is registered, the leasehold runs ninety-nine years, and any Palm View home above the USD 100,000 threshold qualifies the buyer for the Zanzibar Golden Visa.

For the full mechanics — the leasehold path, ZIPA Strategic Investor Status, tax treatment, title due diligence, common pitfalls — read the working guide.

Read the ZIPA guide ↗ Join the list →

The detailed financial model — operating assumptions, capex schedule, sensitivity table, exit comparables — goes to list members alongside the brochure when the plot is final.

Join the list

The list is how the homes get released.

Tell us about you. We will send the full brochure — twenty-five pages: the story, the units, the terms — and put you on the list. List members are contacted in the order they joined when the homes go out.

Karibu.

Thank you. You are on the list. The full brochure is on its way to your inbox. Michael or Kamila will be in touch within forty-eight hours.

A small, private community
on the east coast of Zanzibar.

Two arrivals to Paje, eight years before we meet.

There are places in the world that still feel like a secret.

Tropical soul.
Modern Swahili.

The feel of the place,
before a single wall is poured.

Bright at six.
Hushed by ten.

Days that remember you.

Everything within a short walk of every door.

We are still choosing where.
We know why.

Four names on a map,
four different mornings.

Michamvi

Bwejuu

Paje

Jambiani

The drawings,
in progress.

We are already
drawing the homes.

The numbers, on the table.

Before someone else does.

The list is how the homes get released.

A small, private communityon the east coast of Zanzibar.

Two arrivals to Paje, eight years before we meet.

There are places in the world that still feel like a secret.

Tropical soul.Modern Swahili.

The feel of the place,before a single wall is poured.

Bright at six.Hushed by ten.

Days that remember you.

Everything within a short walk of every door.

We are still choosing where.We know why.

Four names on a map,four different mornings.

Michamvi

Bwejuu

Paje

Jambiani

The drawings,in progress.

We are alreadydrawing the homes.

The numbers, on the table.

Before someone else does.

The list is how the homes get released.

A small, private community
on the east coast of Zanzibar.

Tropical soul.
Modern Swahili.

The feel of the place,
before a single wall is poured.

Bright at six.
Hushed by ten.

We are still choosing where.
We know why.

Four names on a map,
four different mornings.

The drawings,
in progress.

We are already
drawing the homes.