Name: Thumbi View Lodge
Address: Village Road, Monkey Bay, Monkey Bay, Monkey Bay, 0157, Malawi
Rating: 9

Shopping on site

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Gift shop

Garden

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Room service

Family room

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Linens

Mosquito net

Rooms

Laundry

Services and amenities

Diet menu (on request)

Common kitchen

Restaurant (buffet style)

Snack bar

Poolside bar

Packed Lunches

Bottled water (at extra charge)

Meals

Internet

Transfer services

Transfer

Library

Hiking

Recreation

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Beach facilities

Water sport facilities

Private beach

Beach/pool towels

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Business center

Business

Diving

Snorkelling

Yoga

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Location

At the hostel

Room amenities

Thumbi View Lodge

Monkey Bay

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Stayed 3 nights and had a very relaxing time. Staff and owners very friendly and helpful. Phoned Ilala ferry for me and reserved a cabin. Nice room and good food

great place to chill out

We have tried a few other lodges along Cape Mac previously, but now see that Thumbi View is the place to be. We met many tourists, backpackers, charity workers and other professionals during our time here and made very good friends along the way.
The atmosphere is very relaxing, the food was great and there is a good choice of accommodation preferences, from lake view to dormitory.
It's easy to book a cruise, boat ride, kayak or any variation from the lodge.
Also easy to book a ride to and from the airport, or any other location, or just jump on a motorbike any time, to any place.
We will always stay here when we return to Cape Maclear.

Great atmosphere, prices and location

If you are looking for relaxation,look no further.  Spectacular location, super hosts, nothing is too much trouble,and food that cannot be faulted.  Staff never stop smiling!  Room spotless, comfy bed, Value for money, laundry service, lovely villiage

Relaxing stay

Thumbi Lodge is a great place to stay in Cape Maclear: it is well located with lovely friendly staff and a good standard of budget friendly accommodation. Contrary to some of the other reviews below, we found that good quality Wi-Fi was available at very minimal cost (with great connection albeit subject to the various regular power cuts that are common in the area!). Drinks and food are also well priced. The staff were extremely friendly and very accommodating of requests. We chose one of the garden rooms and were very pleased: the shower had hot water and the room was comfortable. Highly recommended for a good value stay in Cape Maclear.

To note more generally, activities such as sunset cruise and kayaking can be booked through the lodge at good prices. For tours, right beside the lodge on the beach are the Tour Guides who organise activities - they are independent of the lodges but well organised and helpful. We did the full tour (Ilala Gap, Thumbi West Island, Otters Point etc.) with Symone and had a really great time. The tour guides do accept card payments but at a rate that is not so good: would highly recommend bringing US dollars in cash to pay them or plenty of Kwacha (note: there is NO cash machine in Cape Maclear, the nearest one is in Monkey Bay, so withdraw before arriving!). 

Great stay at Thumbi View: friendly staff with great location

Thumbi View was a great choice to stay in Cape Maclear. I initially booked a different accommodation, but once I discovered Thumbi View with its beautiful veranda overloking the beach, and the nice pool and sun beds to hang out, I quickly relocated. 

The staff is very friendly and always ready to help, and the food was delicious.

I stayed in a dorm room, which was very good value for the price.

It is also a great place to meet other travellers. I strongly recommend!

Best experience in Cape Maclear!

We have just returned home after an absolutely amazing stay at Thumbi lodge.
The facilities throughout the lodge are immaculate. The staff are so welcoming and accommodating especially Joyce,and Akim. Breakfast each morning was a delight with the freshly baked muffins. They even have a catamaran you can hire . We spent two fabulous afternoons snorkelling around the island with Maurice showing us the sights. I really can’t recommend Thumbi highly enough. We will definitely be back.

Wonderful family friendly lodge in the beautiful Cape Maclear .

One of the nicest places in Cape Maclear. Well stocked bar. With ice cold beer. Nice rooms. Infinity Pool overlooking Thumbi Island. Lunch menu consists of burgers & sandwiches. Boat rides to the island are possible.  Kayaking also. A Curio Shop at the entrance 

Beautiful Bar Overlooking Thumbi Island 

Excellent location, lovely staff and very affordable. Rooms were basic but comfortable and good value for money. Swimming pool area is lovely with great views of the beach. 

Breakfast is really good and dinners too. Very nice place to meet locals and tourists alike

Lovely hostel

We live in Malawi about an 1.5 hour away from Cape Maclear.  Home for 8 1/2 years so far.  We can usually do day trips to the lake so we don’t often stay at the lake. But once in awhile (like for our 18th wedding anniversary!), we like to go to Cape Maclear for a weekend. We kept it low-key this year but it was still so special b/c of our stay at Thumbi View. The staff was professional and friendly.  The lakeview room was comfortable, the pool was refreshing, the view was amazing and the ambience was both great for meeting new people or just chilling.  Just wonderful! We usually like to do snorkeling at Thumbi Island or a sunset cruise but this time we focused on hiking, swimming and lounging.  But what really stood out for us was the delicious food!  The unique spice combinations of the South African-style Indian buffet night still linger memorably on our palate even a week later! Loved Noleen’s creative expression of Indian food.  And I also personally enjoyed the veggie burger and Thumbi Sunset cocktail for lunch.  And the grilled kampango (catfish) dinner with fresh salad for our second dinner was fresh and scrumptious! This catfish was done excellently! And last but not least, the snacks for sale are authentic biltong, including chili bites! It doesn’t get better than this!

Quintessential Cape Maclear getaway!

Overall, absolutely adored Thumbi. This was mainly due to its beautiful location in Cape Maclear and the incredible staff. 
The views from Thumbi are beautiful. Swimming in the lake and watching the sun set each night was a travelling highlight for me. Cape Maclear town is also very lovely to wonder into. The people are all very friendly. Would recommend Zatus across the road from Thumbi for cheaper, proper Malawian food, although the food at Thumbi is very good (just expensive) - although breakfast is included with the price of the room which is great. 
Big shout out to Christopher, Lifo, Caroline, Akim and, of course, the incredible Morris, who took us out on Thumbi’s catamaran for a sunset cruise. We had the best time ever thanks to him and the other lovely guests who made our time very social and enjoyable.  
We paid for a private room which basic - 2 beds with alright mosquito nets, a table, and bathroom. The beds did give us bed bugs though and we woke up with many bites. We did mention this to the lovely staff who helped us with the problem and offered us solutions but we didn’t get an apology or compensation from the owners who seem a bit distant from Thumbi and the community in Cape Maclear. We also felt as though Thumbi was definitely a place for white tourists and not too welcoming towards locals which I wish wasn’t the case. 
Other than this, I can say that we really did have an incredible time here. We were very sad to leave the friends we made and the wonderful wonderful staff who really made this stay 10/10.

Thumbi View Lodge

Main amenities of the hostel

Available rooms