Entry rules are set by the governments of Tanzania and Zanzibar and can change. Check the official sources before you travel.
Your checklist
- Passport valid for at least six months after arrival, with at least one blank visa page
- Tanzania visa — the same visa covers the mainland and Zanzibar
- Zanzibar mandatory travel insurance — required for every visitor
- Yellow fever certificate — only if your route requires it
- Return or onward ticket and your hotel details
Visa
Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, so there is no separate Zanzibar visa. Most visitors apply online for the official Tanzania e-visa before travelling: an ordinary tourist visa is US$50, and US citizens need the US$100 multiple-entry visa. If you are arriving from the mainland after a safari, you have already entered Tanzania and simply show your passport. Full details in our Tanzania visa guide.
Zanzibar's mandatory insurance
Since October 2024, every foreign visitor to Zanzibar must buy the Zanzibar government's own inbound travel insurance before arrival — even if you already have your own policy. It is issued by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation and is checked on arrival. Cost, cover and how to buy it: Zanzibar travel insurance.
Keep your own full travel insurance too — the Zanzibar policy does not replace cover for cancellation or for the rest of your trip. See Tanzania travel insurance.
Yellow fever
You need a yellow fever certificate only if you arrive from, or transit for more than 12 hours through, a country with a risk of yellow fever — for example after a long layover in Nairobi or Addis Ababa. See Tanzania travel requirements.
Plastic bags
Zanzibar banned plastic carrier bags years before the mainland did, and the ban is enforced. Pack in reusable bags and leave duty-free shopping bags behind.
Arriving by ferry
Ferry passengers from Dar es Salaam show their passport on arrival at the port in Stone Town, and the Zanzibar insurance may be checked. Have both ready.
