Matemwe's main beach runs for perhaps three kilometres along the north-east coast, broken in places by small clusters of fishing boats. The sand is fine, soft, and very white; the water inside the reef is shallow turquoise; and the long tidal range means the beach changes character through the day. At high tide the lagoon fills and you can swim from the shore; at low tide the water retreats almost to the reef and you walk out across an expanse of sand flats dotted with starfish and the occasional octopus.
Mornings are the best time to walk — local fishermen come in around dawn, and the air is still cool. By midday the sun is fierce. Most of the lodges have a strip of shaded loungers and serve drinks and snacks on the beach. Outside the lodge frontages, the beach is informal and friendly; expect to be approached by henna artists, masseuses, and sellers of beads and spice baskets, but the atmosphere is much less hard-sell than in Nungwi.