The fishing village set back a few hundred metres from the beach is the working heart of Matemwe — narrow sand lanes, coral-rag houses, a small mosque, a school, and a cluster of shops selling phone credit, fried fish and basic provisions. It is friendly and unselfconscious; children are likely to walk you around and elders will greet you politely from doorways.
Walk through in the morning when the village is busy with the seaweed cooperatives and the catch coming in, or in the early evening when the day cools and people gather outside. A small handful of basic local restaurants serve grilled fish and chapati at a tenth the price of anything at the lodges, and a stop for chai with the village makes for a much more memorable hour than another loop on the beach.