Tanzania

7 records, and the country where the register's conservation distinction does the most work. Chumbe made the country's first marine park and runs seven bungalows to pay the rangers; Mnemba is a wilderness operator's island inside a conservation area; Thanda is a private island with a research programme on it.

Zanzibar's own islands are small, low and close to a populated coast, which makes the difference between a private island and an island with a village on it sharper here than anywhere. Three records in this country carry that distinction explicitly, and one left the register this month because the island turned out to carry villages that had nothing to do with the resort.

The reef is the reason. Water here is warm through the year, the channels hold large marine life, and the diving is better than East Africa's reputation suggests.

Season is the caveat. The long rains from March to May close several of these properties entirely, and the register gives the months rather than the phrase.