This island is situated 8 miles southwest of Zanzibar Town. It is an uninhabited island dominated by coral rag forest and bordered on its western shore, by a fringing coral reef of exceptional biodiversity and beauty.

Based on the initiative of Chumbe Island Coral Park Ltd, a private company created for the management of Chumbe, the island was gazette in 1994 as a protected area by the Government of Zanzibar.