Zanzibar Travel Tips: Visa, Money, Dress Code and Safety
Zanzibar travel tips 2026: ZIC insurance, visas, ferries, dress code, money, tides, health and safety for first-time visitors.
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In this guide
Zanzibar rewards prepared travellers and taxes the rest at every counter. The visitors who struggle almost always missed the same things: the insurance bought too late, the tide ignored, the taxi unbooked, the dress code misread. These Zanzibar travel tips cover paperwork, money, dress, transport, health and the small rules that keep a first trip smooth in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Buy the USD 50 visa and USD 44 ZIC insurance before flying; keep both plus passport and return ticket handy.
- Cover shoulders and knees in towns and villages. Swimwear stays at the resort beach.
- Carry USD and shillings; ATMs cluster at the airport and Stone Town, cards add 3 to 5 percent.
- Check the tide table daily on the east coast; swim the north when the wind blows.
- Use official ferry counters and pre-booked transfers. Save 112 for emergencies.
What paperwork do you need before you fly?
Three documents decide how fast you clear the airport, so sort them in this order. First, the Tanzania visa: USD 50 single entry for 90 days for most nationalities, USD 100 multiple entry for US passports, applied online at the immigration portal or bought on arrival (US State Department guidance). The e-visa queue at Zanzibar airport (ZNZ) moves faster than the on-arrival line, and officers expect a round-trip ticket plus proof of funds. Passports need six months validity beyond arrival with a blank page.
Second, the ZIC insurance certificate: USD 44 per adult, USD 22 per child aged 3 to 17, free under 3, bought only through the official Visit Zanzibar portal before departure. It covers up to 92 days of emergency medical costs, evacuation and repatriation, and it applies even if you hold international cover and even when arriving from the mainland safari circuit. Officers check the QR code in the jetway before immigration, and some airlines check it at departure check-in. Screenshot it to the camera roll and print a backup for children and older travellers.
Third, the arrival card and the hotel address, filled in on the plane or at the desk with a pen you already own. Keep the insurance QR, visa approval, passport and return booking in one folder. Travellers arriving without insurance can buy at desks in the jetway or hall, but banking on that risks a boarding refusal at your home airport. The official portal remains the only source at the correct rate; third-party sites charge more for the same certificate.
How should you dress, pay and stay connected?
Zanzibar is around 99 percent Muslim, and the dress code reflects daily norms rather than performance. In Stone Town, markets, mosques and fishing villages, cover shoulders and knees: light trousers or a long skirt, a shirt with sleeves, a sarong over beachwear when walking between hotel and village.mosques ask for extra cover and shoe removal; a scarf in the day bag handles it. Beach attire belongs at the resort beach and pool only. During Ramadan, avoid eating, drinking or smoking in public during daylight, keep swimwear extra discreet, and accept iftar invitations when offered. Single-use plastic carrier bags are banned nationwide, so pack a tote and small zip pouches for toiletries.
Money runs on two tracks. Hotels, tours and transfers quote in US dollars; markets, stalls, dala-dalas and tips run in Tanzanian shillings near 2,500 to the dollar. ATMs sit at the airport and around Stone Town and thin out fast on the beaches, so withdraw on arrival. Cards work in hotels and larger restaurants with a 3 to 5 percent surcharge. Small notes matter: Forodhani vendors, taxi drivers and market stalls price in shillings and change large dollar bills slowly. Tipping stays simple at about 10 percent in restaurants, a dollar or two per bag for porters, and USD 5 to 10 per day for guides who earn it.
Connectivity is cheap and worth sorting on day one. A Vodacom or Airtel SIM with a few gigabytes costs near USD 5 for a week at airport and Stone Town shops; bring your passport for registration. Coverage reaches every beach town, though speeds dip at peak evening hours. Download offline maps, the insurance QR and ferry tickets before leaving Stone Town, since beach lodges lean on slower shared Wi-Fi. Stone Town’s seafront, with its palaces, fort and ferry terminal, is the island’s transport hub, so most arrivals pass it twice.
| Option | Cost | When it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-booked private transfer | USD 15 to 70 by distance | Late arrivals, families, dive bags |
| Hotel-booked taxi | USD 8 to 25 per hop | Beach to tour, night returns |
| Dala-dala minibus | USD 1 to 3 | Spare afternoons, tight budgets |
| Scooter hire | About USD 40 per day | Licensed riders only, never at night |
Find experiences for your Zanzibar trip
If you book through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.How do you get around the island?
Stone Town itself is a walking town: narrow alleys, shade, everything within 20 minutes on foot. Beyond it, choose transport by distance and nerve. Pre-booked private transfers cost USD 15 to 25 from the airport to Stone Town and USD 35 to 70 to Paje, Jambiani, Nungwi or Kendwa, and they remove every arrival negotiation after a long flight. Taxis between beaches run USD 8 to 25 per vehicle with the price fixed before boarding; US guidance advises against hailing them on the street, so book through the hotel or a known driver. A private car and driver for the day runs USD 80 to 160 and suits spice farms plus Jozani in one loop.
Public options trade comfort for shillings. Dala-dala minibuses cost USD 1 to 3 a ride, with Stone Town to Nungwi near TZS 2,000, leaving when full from Creek Road and Darajani Terminal. Mabasi trucks cover longer island routes cheapest of all. Both are slow, crowded and timetable-free, which is fine for a free afternoon and wrong for a flight day. Scooter hire runs about USD 40 a day; crashes are the island’s most common serious injury, so hire only with a licence, a helmet that fits, and no night riding.
The Dar es Salaam ferry deserves its own paragraph because touts work it hard (traveller advisory). High-speed boats take about two hours from about USD 35 in economy; flights cover the same link in under half an hour from USD 40 to 80. Buy ferry tickets only inside the terminal or on the carrier site, with your name, date and class printed, and ignore fixers claiming the counter is closed. In peak weeks and holidays, book both directions early. Keep bags in sight in terminals and sit inside on night crossings.
The memorial at the former slave market site beside the Anglican cathedral. Allow an unhurried hour here.
Which trips earn their price, and what catches people out?
Stone Town deserves two nights, not a day dash, as our Stone Town travel guide shows with day-by-day sights and costs. The UNESCO old town compresses the island’s history into walkable streets: the Old Fort with its music and film festivals, the House of Wonders and Palace Museum seafront, carved Zanzibari doors, Darajani Bazaar in the morning and Forodhani Gardens after 6pm. The former slave market site and its memorial beside Christ Church need an unhurried hour; guides there are knowledgeable and worth the fee. Prices for beds and meals sit lowest here, so front-load the budget sightseeing before the beach.
Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park, the island’s only national park, protects the endemic red colobus monkeys plus Sykes monkeys, bushbabies, mangrove boardwalks and 50-plus butterfly species. Park entry runs about USD 10 to 12, with guided half-days including transport near USD 30 to 40. Go in the morning when monkeys feed low, keep distance, and skip the guides who offer contact. Pair it with a spice farm on the same inland day to halve transfer costs.
A red colobus infant in Jozani forest. Morning visits catch the troops feeding low.
The sea sets the remaining rules. East coast beaches drain to tidal flats for hours, so ask the hotel for the tide time every morning and swim the incoming tide; Nungwi and Kendwa in the north hold depth all day and rescue windy-season plans, timed by month in our guide to the best time to visit Zanzibar. Swim near lifeguards, respect flag systems, wear reef shoes on urchin beaches, and treat dhow and snorkel boats like the working craft they are: confirm life jackets, the route and the price before boarding. Mnemba snorkelling runs USD 50 to 90 shared, Prison Island and sandbank trips USD 35 to 70, and diving days USD 90 to 180.
Health basics are unglamorous and decisive. Malaria tablets are recommended year-round, with repellent from dusk, long sleeves at night and nets where provided. Never drink tap water; use sealed bottles and hotel-filtered water. Sunscreen costs double on the beaches, so stock up on the mainland or at home, and rehydrate past the point that feels necessary. Pharmacies in Stone Town handle minor issues; anything bigger goes to Stone Town or Dar es Salaam, which is exactly what the mandatory insurance paperwork exists to fund.
Split the island into two bases and stop moving. Two nights in Stone Town plus five on one beach beats three hotels in seven days on every measure: fewer transfers, lower transport spend, staff who learn your name, and one tide table to memorise instead of three. Island-hopping days burn the exact hours the beach does best.
Photograph people last, not first. Ask before every portrait, accept refusals with grace, and never pay children for photos. The travellers who eat first, talk second and lift the camera third get invited closer than any lens ever reached on its own.
Red colobus pair in the Jozani canopy. Keep distance and let the troop come to you.
Plan money with the Morocco trip cost breakdown method, with island numbers in our Zanzibar trip cost guide, eat with the Moroccan food guide mindset of pricing dish by dish, and time the days with the best time guide for Morocco only for season logic. The Zanzibar hub and the Africa collection hold the island companions, with all tips behind them.
Know before you go
Zanzibar at a glance
Best time to visit
June to October, December to February
- January: hot, some showers
- February: hot, some showers
- March: hot, rainy
- April: warm, very wet
- May: warm, rainy
- June: warm, some showers
- July: warm, some showers
- August: warm, some showers
- September: warm, some showers
- October: hot, rainy
- November: warm, rainy
- December: hot, rainy
Some showers Rainy Very wet
- Capital
- Zanzibar City (Stone Town)
- Currency
- Tanzanian shilling (TZS); US dollars widely accepted
- Language
- Swahili, English
- Time zone
- EAT, UTC+3
- Plugs
- Type D / G, 230 V
- Driving
- On the left
Emergency112
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a visa for Zanzibar?
Most nationalities need a Tanzania tourist visa covering Zanzibar: USD 50 single entry for 90 days, or USD 100 multiple entry for US passports. Apply online at visa.immigration.go.tz before flying or buy on arrival. US guidance notes volunteers cannot work on a tourist visa.
What is the mandatory ZIC insurance?
Inbound cover from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, required since October 2024 for every non-resident: USD 44 per adult, USD 22 per child aged 3 to 17, free under 3, covering up to 92 days. Buy at visitzanzibar.go.tz before departure; officers check the QR code in the airport jetway.
What should you wear in Zanzibar?
Cover shoulders and knees in Stone Town, markets, mosques and fishing villages. Swimwear belongs only at the resort beach and pool. During Ramadan avoid eating, drinking or smoking in public by day. Light cotton, a sarong and a scarf for mosque areas cover nearly every situation.
Is Zanzibar safe for tourists?
Violent crime against visitors is rare; the real risks are sun, currents, scooter crashes and petty theft after dark. US guidance advises against hailing street taxis, flagging dala-dalas, bajajis and boda-bodas, and for buying ferry tickets only inside the terminal or online. Save 112 for emergencies.
How do you get from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar?
The high-speed ferry takes about two hours from about USD 35 in economy; buy tickets with your name, date and class only at official counters or carrier sites. Flights take 20 to 30 minutes from USD 40 to 80. Ferries sell out on holidays, so book ahead in peak weeks.
Can you drink the tap water and do you need malaria tablets?
Do not drink tap water; use sealed bottles or hotel-filtered water and skip ice from unknown sources. Malaria tablets are recommended year-round plus repellent from dusk, long sleeves at night and a treated net where provided. Pack reef-safe sunscreen and rehydrate constantly.
Useful links (4)
- Tanzania Travel Advisory, US State Department— travel.state.gov
- Zanzibar Travel Tips 2026, WildToSea— wildtosea.com
- Zanzibar Entry Requirements 2026: Visa, ZIC Insurance and Airport, WildToSea— wildtosea.com
- Visit Zanzibar official portal— visitzanzibar.go.tz
Photo credits
Thank you to No machine-readable author provided. Mbz1 assumed (based on, Yamen, Erasmus Kamugisha and Olivier Lejade from France for sharing these beautiful photographs and helping bring this guide to life.
Editorial byline
Jack Roberts Africa editor
Jack covers Morocco and Zanzibar for Epic Trip Ideas: medinas, desert routes, street food and Indian Ocean islands, with the logistics and costs sorted. Jack Roberts is a pen name the Epic Trip Ideas editors use for Morocco and Zanzibar; every guide is checked against official sources before it goes live.
