By James Stone

Last Easter I spent an exotic two nights staying on this eco-island complete with underwater nature reserve and it really was something special.

To get to the tropical paradise we were picked up by a rickety looking boat. We had to wade quite far out to sea to board, getting thoroughly soaked in the process.

The island was tiny – it takes about 45 minutes to walk around – and has just eight huts, so there are never more than 16 guests staying.

I can't even describe how incredible the accommodation was. It was a private hut in the shape of London's gherkin, only smaller, with one side cut off. There was a bed on the top floor and a hammock downstairs from which you could look out over the beach and palm trees with the sea breeze keeping you cool.

Close to the ground on either side of the hut were large troughs to catch the rain water from the roof which is then pumped through the shower.

You couldn't flush the toilet, but instead had to chuck compost down it into a deep pit below the hut – not nearly as grim as it sounds.

There are only really four activities to do on the island: snorkelling, exploring, eating and sitting – fine with me.

On our first afternoon we went snorkelling, just a bit out to sea. It was as good as scuba diving. We saw everything including turtles, loads of coral, fish of every shape, size and colour and of course a few massive jelly fish.

The next day we had a nature tour around the island, which started with a complete circuit of the island. There was plenty of wildlife to be seen – giant star fish, huge crabs clinging upside down to the cliffs and rock pools to explore.

Despite being employed on one of Zanzibar's only eco-friendly destinations, our guide Wadi chose to show off the island's natural offerings by hitting everything with a big wooden stick.

However we explained it, he just didn't seem to understand that he was inflicting unnecessary cruelty on these innocent creatures. To this day I expect Chumbe's aquatic residents tremble at the sound of his footsteps approaching every day at low tide.

The next part of the walk took us through the more jungly part of the island which is full of poisonous plants and giant fossils. Wadi told us one fossil was twenty-thousand-million years old. I'm no archaeologist, but this seemed a little bit out there.

After a hard day exploring we got enjoy one of the real highlights of our stay: the all-inclusive dining. There is nothing like a buffet of traditional Zanzibari cuisine, which is a cross between Eastern spices and more bland options such as spinach and plantain cooking bananas. Everything is served with coconut milk.

After our meal on the second night we were taken into the undergrowth in search of the world's largest land crab. This bizarre creature is commonly known as the coconut crab because it apparently climbs palm trees to drop coconuts onto the ground with enough force to break them.

Upon meeting one of these mighty beasts, I did doubt it possessed such a level of intelligence but it was certainly an impressive specimen. It was about two feet across, pincher to pincher and about a foot long, from head to tail. It was also bright orange.

I'd have loved to take one home but they are protected.

So I left empty handed, which was probably for he best as I needed both hands to stop my belongings getting soaked again as I waded out to the boat on the return trip to Zanzibar.

Chumbe Island is pretty pricey, but if you've gone all the way to Zanzibar, you have got to get a piece of the eco-action.