Cafeography
Dar es Salaam

Outdoor seating cafés in Dar es Salaam

Terraces on Haile Selassie Road, Chole Road and Mahando Street, plus Fraîche in Mbezi Beach.

Photo: Mauricio Krupka Buendia, Pexels License

Sitting outside is most comfortable in the middle of the year. July is the coolest month at the airport, with an average high of 29.7 °C, and also the driest, with about 16 mm of rain.1 February is the hard month for a terrace: on 10 February 2025 the airport station recorded 35.0 °C, 2.2 °C above normal.2 Rain is the other limit: April is the wettest month, with about 264 mm, so terraces empty fast during the long rains.1

Most cafés with outdoor seating are in Masaki, part of Msasani ward, which the Indian Ocean borders to the north and east.3 Two more are further out: Orchid Café in Oyster Bay and Fraîche in Mbezi Beach.

Local tip: For a terrace before the heat builds, Fraîche in Mbezi Beach opens at 06:30 on weekdays; in Masaki, Hug a Mug and Luma Whale start at 08:00.

Where these cafés are: Masaki (11), Mbezi Beach & Kawe (1), Oyster Bay (1).

At a glance

13Cafés 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: Café Blanc, until 23:00 (Mon 09:00–21:00 · Wed–Fri 09:00–21:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–23:00).
  • Most listed streets: Haile Selassie Road (2).
  • Most common features: indoor seating (85%), air-con (54%), smoke-free indoors (54%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Dar es Salaam.

Haile Selassie Road

Hug a Mug, at 102 Haile Selassie Road, pairs its outdoor tables with an air-conditioned room and keeps them open from 08:00 to 22:30 daily. It takes cards and has vegan dishes.

Kahawa Cafe, at 1391 on the same road, seats you inside or out. Woodberry Cafe also has both, along with air conditioning, card payment and limited wheelchair access.

Chole Road, Mahando Street and Bains Avenue

On Chole Road, Luma Whale at number 21 puts tables outside from 08:00 to 21:00 every day and keeps a smoke-free, air-conditioned room for the hotter hours. Mahando Street has Café Blanc, at number 2, and Café Blue, at 446.

Café Blanc's terrace is the one for a weekend evening: it serves until 23:00 on Saturday and Sunday, until 21:00 on other days, and closes on Tuesday. The Lemon Tree Café, open daily from 08:00 to 19:00, See you latte and Wild Flour Artisan Bakery also have outdoor seats.

Wild Flour Artisan Bakery opens at 07:30 on weekdays and 09:00 at weekends, takes cards, has vegan options and limited wheelchair access, and has an air-conditioned room as well as its terrace for the hottest part of the day.

Oyster Bay and Mbezi Beach

Orchid Café in Oyster Bay has a terrace, an air-conditioned room and card payment. Nearby Coco Beach is to stay public: in late March 2026 Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba said it would not be sold to any investor, and he criticized the lack of basic facilities such as toilets, even though the beach earns money every day from parking.4

Fraîche, at 11 Mawio in Mbezi Beach, opens its terrace at 06:30 on weekdays and at 08:30 at weekends, and closes at 22:00, or 22:30 on Saturday. It serves vegan dishes and takes cards.

Outdoor tables after dark

British travel advice reports robberies on Toure Drive and names Coco Beach and the wider Masaki and Oysterbay peninsula as places where visitors have been targeted. It advises extra care at night, when crime is higher, and recommends arranging a taxi through a hotel or travel operator.5

The same advice warns that bijajis, the local name for tuk-tuks, often have poor safety standards and rarely carry proper insurance.5

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. Msasani, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Coco beach not for sale, it belongs to people, says PM, Daily News (March 30, 2026), accessed October 2026
  5. Tanzania travel advice: Safety and security, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse Dar es Salaam

Air-conditioned cafés

9 cafés

Open late

8 cafés

By area: Masaki

FAQ

Outdoor seating in Dar es Salaam: questions

Which Masaki cafés in Dar es Salaam have outdoor seating?

On Haile Selassie Road, Hug a Mug, Kahawa Cafe and Woodberry Cafe have outdoor tables. Luma Whale is on Chole Road, Café Blanc and Café Blue are on Mahando Street, and The Lemon Tree Café, See you latte and Wild Flour Artisan Bakery also seat you outside. Hug a Mug serves from 08:00 to 22:30 daily.

What is the best season for outdoor cafés in Dar es Salaam?

July is the most comfortable month for a terrace: it is the coolest month at the airport, with an average high of 29.7 °C, and the driest, with about 16 mm of rain. February is the hottest; on 10 February 2025 the airport station recorded 35.0 °C, 2.2 °C above normal.

How safe are outdoor cafés in Dar es Salaam after dark?

British travel advice reports robberies on Toure Drive and names Coco Beach and the Masaki and Oysterbay peninsula among places where visitors have been targeted. It advises extra care at night and recommends booking a taxi through a hotel or travel operator. It also warns that tuk-tuks, called bijajis, often have poor safety standards.

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