Mafia Island is a lovely, quaint and off the beaten track island - much like what Cozumel used to be like in the early 80's before it was built up. It takes the same time to reach as Zanzibar from Dar more or less, and offers less distance to the resort - just a short ride so no wasting time with transfers to airport!
The lodge was originally built by the government so the location is the best on the island with a sandy beach - you can take a short Dow ride to the little island across to visit old cultural heritage sights as well as swim and picnic. The food is very good and the chef will be happy to accommodate your fresh catch of the day if you ask whether it be lobster or fish. They also offer a special private dining experience for couples down at the beach available upon request.
The rooms have a pleasant and simple decor with accents of basket weaving, a popular craft found on the island - you can buy these wonderful woven covers to place over food to keep flies away!
The Manager, Gabriel takes care of your every need as well as very dedicated in mentoring his staff - and it shows by the atmosphere which is much like a happy family!
Note that there is a Marine Park per person daily fee of $20 that is to help protect the marine life. Scuba gear and training is on site at the lodge and very convenient to the reefs.

Food is poor, bland and often based on left overs from the night before (e.g. breakfast consists of last nights rolls, stale cake, black bananas/melon and cheese omlette without the cheese). Wine is served warm, with no ice and attempts to get it chilled are ignored (they have clay ice containers which only work if they are cold to start with and ice is seemingly in very short supply). Management speaks little English and are argumentative when issues are raised. They smoke constantly in the dining area during meals times. The beach bar is poorly stocked, has no ice and frequently runs out of beer. Barman has attitude of doing you a favour. Beach towels are usually unavailable (shrug!). Diving wigh Big Blu (not the hotel's operation - rather a competitor down the beach) was the only highlight of our expensive and incredibly disappointing trip. It was like having your own cameo role in fawlty towers reruns! Avoid like the plague if you can

What a fantastic place. This is the place to go for experiencing maritime life and tranquility. If you want nightlife and action go to Zanzibar and THEN go to Mafia to unwind afterwards. Go snorkling, diving, swimming. Read a book on the beach, work on your tan and just check your watch for when the next meal is.......the most laidback vacation you'll find anywhere....is here.

A couple of things to address though. Mafia Island Lodge is situated within the Mafia Island Maritime Park so you have to pay a fee to be there per day. I think it was something like 20 or 25 USD per night which comes in addition to the fee of the room/food etc. We stayed for 3-4 nights and it cost the 2 of us an extra 150-180 USD we didn't expect and I think it would be fair if we were told about this before we had to pay it.

I get that the lodge doesn't want to tell anyone about it since its not exactly a selling point, but its just too much money to not tell people about.

Apart from that we were very pleased and would love to go back, but if you want to go partying choose somewhere else !!!!! This is NOT Ibiza.

I ended up on Mafia Island at the end of a several-week-long (and partly rough-ish) Tanzania trip; the plan was to wind down, recover, relax, and treat myself to a diving course. What can I say: the minute I entered Mafia Island Lodge, I sensed that peace had arrived and all was well with the world.

- Location: perfect. It's the only place on Mafia's east coast wih direct beach access. Other than that: Tranquil, leafy surroundings, beautifully manicured gardens, gently swaying palm trees...

- Accomodation: very comfortable & cozy rooms in pretty thatched-roof buildings, atmospheric private verandas (most with some sort of sea view), good showers, everything very clean.

- Food/bar: outstanding seafood-based cuisine with a strong Italian touch. Very cozy and laid-back open-air bar/lounge area. You easily get stuck for hours...

- Staff/service: by far the friendliest, most attentive and most likeable hotel staff of the holiday. Service is impeccable, and the guys (and girl) are a very charming lot. I found it really hard to leave.

A few other things: The place is Italian-run, and many (most?) of the guests are Italian. Plus, solo travellers seem to be a bit of an exception - so you should feel comfortable with that before checking in (that said, I'm both a solo-traveller and non-Italian... and I really liked the place & vibe & felt comfortable and welcome at all times...). Proceedings at the attached dive center are sometimes mildly chaotic, but courses and dives are conducted in a professional manner (safety writ large), and the lady/guys/girls running the place are fun to be around - as good a place to learn diving as anywhere.
Last not least: the place is excellent value - I booked a h/b accomodation / diving package that was a real bargain. Drinks are cheap, and they even throw in transport to the airport (about 30 minutes by minibus) for free.
I could go on and on, but won't. Suffice to say: most pleasant resort/lodge I've stayed in for many many years. Hope it wasn't the last time.