The BEST NIGHTCLUBS across the KFF network

From chic, modern venues with exclusive guest lists to dancing barefoot on the beach, Jahazi points you to where the party’s at once the sun goes down

Dar es Salaam

The country’s biggest city is a place that rarely sleeps with a thriving music scene that has invented its own dance sounds such as bongo flava and singeli. Hitting the clubs here is a great way to soak up the latest tracks that have come from the streets to the sound-systems.

HAVOC

This modern, attractive club has expansive views out over the Msasani Peninsula from its location on the fourth floor of the Renaissance Plaza building. It is spacious inside too with a huge neon-lit dance floor that is filled every Friday and Saturday night by cutting edge music from house and guest DJs. The club has recently added a regular live music event, The Black Stage, with musician and actor Ay Masta and Tanga-born star Mwana Faamong the acts in recent weeks. It also has an excellent restaurant – with table booking available – that keeps serving hungry revellers until 5am.

Music: Latest bongo flava, afrobeat hits

Dress code: smart casual.

Entry: TZS 10,000

Visit: havocnightspot.co.tz @havoctanzania on Instagram

ELEMENTS

The strip of bars and clubs in Oyster Bay’s Haile Selassie Road is the vibrant hub of nightlife in Dar and one of its most popular hangouts is this club lounge and bar, which attracts some of the hottest musical acts around. Up until the early evening, it is a stylish restaurant and bar, but when the night time rolls in the club crowd arrives for regular DJ and live music events such as Urban Thursday, Lit Friday. AfroWave Global and I Love Dar. Recent acts have included South African duo Blaq Diamond and Ghanaian singing sensation Gyakie.

Music: Afrobeats, rap, r’n’b, reggae

Dress code: urban cool

Entry: From TZS 20,000 for live shows.

Visit: @elementstz on Instagram

MAISON

This classy nightclub – tucked away inside the similarly opulent five-starSea Cliff Hotel in Masaki – with its champagne-hued rooms is one of the city’s most exclusive haunts. There’s a TZS 10,000 entry fee and you won’t be let in unless your attire meets Maison’s “upscale-chic” dress code, but the rewards inside include an amazing sound system presided over by house DJs Mkuzi and Lus as well as an impressive line-up of international guests with recent acts includingNigerian singer-songwriter Patoranking, award-winning Dutch-Asian DJ Akio and South African rapper Shomad Jozi.

Music: Rap, r‘n’b, afrobeats, bongo flava

Dress code: “Upscale chic” – no sports wear.

Entry: TZS 10,000

Visit: maisontz.com

LEVEL 8

The rooftop bar at iconic hotel Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro is a feast for the senses. There’s the sight of the incredible 360-degree view of the harbour and the city skyline from its eighth-floor vantage, the taste of its famous cocktails and, on Fridays, the sounds conjured up by the guest DJs to accompany this most romantic of night club settings.

Music: Laidback, jazzy beats

Dress code: smart casual.

Entry: Free

Visit: hyatt.com

Unguja (Zanzibar Island)

Stone Town has a host of excellent nightclubs sequestered amid its labyrinthine streets, but you’ll also find plenty of beach parties in the north and south-eastern resorts with sound systems making the sand shake.

THE SECRET GARDEN

If you prefer a more intimate nightclub experience rather than an all-out rave, this historic hideaway in Stone Town may suit. On Fridays, this open-air bar and restaurant set among lushly landscaped hidden ruins, plays host to live music nights. The music is a mix of jazz and taarab, a singular Swahili style of music that dates back to the sultanate era on the archipelago. Taarab’s hypnotic rhythms and middle eastern influences can still be heard in the singeli and bongo flava sounds of modern Tanzania and there is a new generation of musicians keeping the ancient sounds alive. The Secret Garden gigsare a great way to support these emerging artists.

Music: Jazz, taarab

Dress code: casual

Entry: TZS 20,000 (all money goes to artists)

Visit: emersonspice.com

6 DEGREES SOUTH

This café on the Shanghai waterfront always has an exuberant atmosphere thanks to its weekday 5pm to 7pm happy hours, but when the weekend hits the party moves upstairs to it rooftop bar Up North with its regular Freaky Friday club night.

Music: Afrojazz, themed disco

Dress code: casual

Entry: Ladies free from 9pm to 11pm.

Visit: 6degreessouth.co.tz

DHARMA LOUNGE

Located near the State University of Zanzibar in southern Stone Town, this hip, modern club attracts plenty of students as well as a young international crowd. There is graffiti art on the walls, cushions strewn around for lounging between dances, a modern stereo system, a great selection of cocktails behind the bar and a massive dance floor. Entertainment is a mix of DJ nights and live music gigs.

Music: Modern, independent.

Dress code: casual

CHOLO’S DISCO BAR

North coast fishing village Nungwi also has its own nightclub right on the sand. Cholo’s is a party magnet on Nungwi Beach, attracting a good mix of locals and tourists for drinking and dancing.

Music: Chart hits, afrobeats, reggae

Dress code: come as you are

Entry: Free

KENDWA ROCKS

Every month when the full moon rises to illuminate the soft white sand on the beach at Kendwa, a village on the northern coast of Unguja, the Kendwa Rocks Beach Hotel gets set to party.

The event – usually on a Saturday and as close to the full moon as possible– involves acrobats, fire eaters, beach barbecues and an international crowd of revellers dancing to the pulsating beat of a massive sound system. The rest of the month, revellers can dance the night away Monday through Saturday at the hotel’s lounge bar, The Rocks.

Music: House, afrobeats, reggae

Dress code: come as you are

Entry: On the door or book in advance at hotel website.

Visit: kendwarocks.com

Tanga

The Tanga nightlife revolves around a cluster of lively bars between the Misitu and Kano area between the railway bus station.

CLUB LA CASA CHICA

Located in one of Tanga’s more historic buildings is this cosy, welcoming nightclub.

DOLPHIN INN

This hotel in the centre of Tanga has a lovely bar and terrace which hosts club nights every weekend.

MERIDIAN RESTAURANT

Every Wednesday and at weekends, this Tanga restaurant hosts disco nights on its attractive terrace.