Cafeography
Dar es Salaam

Air-conditioned cafés in Dar es Salaam

Cool rooms on Haile Selassie Road and Chole Road, Café Aroma on Obama Road and Fraîche in Mbezi Beach.

Photo: Peter Marie, Pexels License

Humidity is the reason to look for a cooled room. Monthly relative humidity at the airport averages between 75% and 84%, with the peak in April,1 and in February 2025 the Tanzania Meteorological Authority said it was making the body feel hotter than the reported temperature.2 The heat returns before the short rains: the city recorded 33.2 °C on 19 and 21 November 2025, 1.6 °C above normal, and relief was expected only once the December rains set in.3

Masaki has most of the air-conditioned cafés: Bean There Café, Hug a Mug and Woodberry Cafe on Haile Selassie Road, Luma Whale on Chole Road, Café Blanc on Mahando Street and Wild Flour Artisan Bakery. Café Aroma covers the city centre, Orchid Café Oyster Bay and Fraîche Mbezi Beach.

Local tip: On a hot Sunday afternoon, remember that Café Aroma on Obama Road closes at 17:00; Hug a Mug on Haile Selassie Road keeps its cool room open until 22:30.

Where these cafés are: Masaki (6), City Centre & Upanga (1), Mbezi Beach & Kawe (1), Oyster Bay (1).

At a glance

9Cafés listed
7With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
23:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Fraîche, from 06:30 (Mon–Fri 06:30–22:00 · Sat 08:30–22:30 · Sun 08:30–22:00).
  • Closes latest: Bean There Café, until 23:00 (Mon–Tue 07:00–20:00 · Wed–Fri 07:00–22:00 · Sat 07:00–23:00 · Sun 08:00–22:00).
  • Most listed streets: Haile Selassie Road (2).
  • Most common features: indoor seating (100%), smoke-free indoors (100%), card payment (78%).
Masaki

Bean There Café

  • 1391 Haile Selassie Rd
  • Mon–Tue 07:00–20:00 · Wed–Fri 07:00–22:00 · Sat 07:00–23:00 · Sun 08:00–22:00
  • +255766888811
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City Centre & Upanga

Café Aroma

  • Obama Road
  • Mon–Fri 08:00–23:00 · Sat 10:00–23:00 · Sun 08:00–17:00
  • +255686519152
  • Wi-Fi
  • Air-con
  • Indoor seating
  • Card payment
  • Vegetarian options
  • Partial wheelchair access
  • Smoke-free indoors
  • Bakery café
  • Open late
  • Brunch
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Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Dar es Salaam.

When the heat peaks

The average high at the airport sits at 32.4 °C in January and March and 32.8 °C in February, and the warm nights of February bring an average low of 24.5 °C.1 In mid-February 2025 the meteorological authority reported average temperatures of 36.0 °C across most of Dar es Salaam, Coast Region and Tanga, and urged residents to protect themselves from extreme heat and its health risks.2

Power cuts and the cooling

Air conditioning depends on the grid. President Samia Suluhu Hassan launched the 2,115 MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project on 22 August 2026, yet the country still faces frequent power interruptions, which the government ties partly to weak transmission and distribution networks.4 Demand keeps climbing: national peak demand reached 2,280 MW within three days of the Chalinze–Dodoma line being switched on.4

If the room goes warm during an outage, a café with a terrace lets you move outside rather than leave.

A cool room in the city centre

Café Aroma, on Obama Road, is the city-centre choice: it has Wi-Fi as well as air conditioning, serves brunch and baked goods, and opens from 08:00 to 23:00 on weekdays, 10:00 to 23:00 on Saturday and 08:00 to 17:00 on Sunday. It takes cards and bans smoking.

Bean There Café, at 1391 Haile Selassie Road in Masaki, is an indoor-only room, smoke-free and air-conditioned. It opens at 07:00 from Monday to Saturday and stays open until 22:00 or later from Wednesday to Sunday.

Cool rooms with a terrace

Most of these cafés also have outdoor seating, so you can move outside once the evening cools. Hug a Mug serves from 08:00 to 22:30 every day, Luma Whale from 08:00 to 21:00, and Wild Flour Artisan Bakery from 07:30 on weekdays until 22:00. Café Blanc on Mahando Street closes on Tuesday. Woodberry Cafe, also on Haile Selassie Road, takes cards, serves vegan options and has limited wheelchair access.

Outside Masaki, Orchid Café in Oyster Bay takes cards and bans smoking, and Fraîche at 11 Mawio in Mbezi Beach opens at 06:30 on weekdays.

Sources

  1. Dar es Salaam, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. TMA cautions over rising temperature, Daily News (Amina Mwampangala, February 13, 2025), accessed October 2026
  3. TMA reports extreme heat in bimodal areas, expects relief in December, Diramakini (November 2025), accessed October 2026
  4. Samia launches 2,115MW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, silences critics, The Citizen (Gadiosa Lamtey, August 22, 2026), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse Dar es Salaam

Outdoor seating

13 cafés

Open late

8 cafés

By area: Masaki City Centre & Upanga

FAQ

Air-conditioned cafés in Dar es Salaam: questions

Which cafés in Masaki, Dar es Salaam, have air conditioning?

Bean There Café, Hug a Mug and Woodberry Cafe on Haile Selassie Road, Luma Whale on Chole Road, Café Blanc on Mahando Street and Wild Flour Artisan Bakery all have air-conditioned rooms. Bean There is indoor-only and opens at 07:00 from Monday to Saturday; Hug a Mug serves from 08:00 to 22:30 daily.

Which air-conditioned café in Dar es Salaam city centre has Wi-Fi?

Café Aroma on Obama Road has Wi-Fi and air conditioning, serves brunch and baked goods, takes cards and bans smoking. It opens from 08:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 to 23:00 on Saturday, and closes at 17:00 on Sunday.

What is the hottest time of year for cafés in Dar es Salaam?

February is the hottest month, with an average high of 32.8 °C at the airport, and on 10 February 2025 the airport recorded 35.0 °C. November can be hot too: the city reached 33.2 °C on 19 and 21 November 2025. Humidity of 75–84% makes the heat feel stronger.

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