Zanzibar costs and money
What Zanzibar really costs: daily budgets, typical prices for food, transfers and trips, cash and cards, tipping and bargaining.
Updated
Zanzibar can be done on a backpacker budget or at resort prices, and the difference is almost entirely about where you sleep and how you move. Food and trips cost less than most visitors expect; the fixed costs (flights, visa, insurance) are set before you land.
Prices below are typical 2025-2026 figures in US dollars, which is how most tourist pricing is quoted. They move with the season; treat them as planning numbers and check current rates.
What a day costs
Shoestring (US$40-70 per day): a simple guesthouse room, meals at local canteens, dala dalas, one paid activity every second day. Very doable in Paje or Jambiani, harder in Nungwi.
Mid-range (US$120-250 per day for two people sharing): a comfortable boutique hotel or lodge, restaurant meals, private transfers, a boat trip or two. This is the sweet spot for most visitors.
Upscale (US$300-700+ per day for two): beachfront resorts with pools and full boards, especially on the north-west and the south-east. All-inclusive rates at the top end run higher still.
Typical prices
Ballpark figures for the things you will actually buy:
- Local canteen meal: US$2-5. Mid-range restaurant main: US$8-15. Hotel dinner: US$15-35.
- Forodhani night market snacks: a few dollars buys a full graze.
- Local beer: US$1.5-3 in a bar, US$3-5 in a hotel.
- Airport taxi to Stone Town: US$10-15; private transfers across the island: US$35-50 one-way per car.
- Dala dala (shared minibus): US$1-2 for long hops, cents for short ones.
- Mnemba snorkelling trip: US$25-40. Prison Island: US$30-40. Sunset dhow: US$20-35.
- Safari Blue full-day dhow: US$60-90. Spice tour: US$25-35.
- Jozani Forest entry: about US$10. Kuza Cave: about US$10. Mnarani turtle sanctuary: about US$10.
- Stone Town to Dar es Salaam ferry: roughly US$35-50 in business class, less in economy; book Azam Marine directly.
Fixed costs to plan for
Three costs are set before you travel and catch people out only when forgotten: the visa (US$50 for most passports, US$100 for US citizens), the mandatory Zanzibar inbound travel insurance (US$44 per adult, US$22 for children aged 2 to 17), and your flights. See the visa and entry guide for the details and the official portals.
There is no separate airport departure tax for international flights; it is included in the ticket price.
Cash, cards and ATMs
The local currency is the Tanzanian shilling (TSh), worth roughly TSh 2,500 to the US dollar at the time of writing. Tourist pricing is quoted in dollars, but you will pay in shillings for food, transport and stalls, so change some money on arrival.
ATMs cluster in Stone Town (CRDB, Exim, NMB), with a few in Paje, Kendwa and Nungwi. Withdraw what you need when you see a machine; outages happen. Cards work at hotels and upmarket restaurants, Visa more reliably than Mastercard, and American Express almost nowhere. Bring US dollars in small, post-2013 notes for tours and extras; older or damaged notes are often refused.
Tipping and bargaining
Tipping is appreciated, not obligatory. In restaurants, 5-10% is right where no service charge was added; hotel porters US$1-2; guides US$5-10 per day; boat crews US$5-10 per group. Many hotels add a service charge, so check the bill first.
Bargaining is normal and expected in markets and with beach vendors, and it is a negotiation, not a confrontation: start around half the asking price and settle somewhere in the middle with good humour. For tours, agree the price and exactly what is included (boat, gear, park fees, water) before you board; that single habit prevents most disputes.
Where the money goes
For a typical mid-range week for two, expect roughly: accommodation half the total, food and drink a fifth, transfers and trips a quarter, and the rest in tips and extras. Booking trips on the beach rather than through hotels usually saves 20-40%, and the same operators often run both.
The cheapest weeks to visit are the shoulder months (early June, late October, November) when room rates drop sharply while the weather stays mostly kind.