How to plan a trip to Zanzibar

By The Married Wanderers On April 22, 2020

Want to plan your holiday to Tanzania’s island paradise? Here is our guide on how to plan a trip to Zanzibar on your own. This guide is written from a South African perspective.

Booking a Package Holiday through AfricaStay

Booking a package deal (return flights and accommodation all in one) can definitely work. Packages can often end up being cheaper than booking the same resort and your own flights independently.

We recommend using AfricaStay when shopping around for packages to Zanzibar. They are known for their impressive and affordable all-inclusive package deals. This is where we have found the best specials. *Not a collab or advert – just our personal recommendation.

What happens if you find an amazing package through AfricaStay but it’s only for 4 nights and you want to go for a week or longer?

Although they don’t always advertise this you can always extend your return flight home by a couple of days. Just contact AfricaStay before booking and ask them to change the date of your flight home. This way you can book the special package (saving money on flights etc) and still enjoy a few more days doing your own thing inbetween.

For example: Your package through AfricaStay offers return flights (JNB to Zanzibar) and 4 nights at a resort on the East coast. Now extend your return flight by 5 nights and book a guesthouse in Stone Town and a bungalow in beautiful Nungwi before flying home.

How to book a trip to Zanzibar, Directly

We did a lot of research to determine whether it would be cheaper to book a package deal (like above) or to book everything separately and directly ourselves. The answer to this question will differ depending on your circumstances.

If you are looking for a 3-5 star resort stay then the above AfricaStay packages will almost always come up cheaper (if you grab one of their specials). If you would prefer to book more rustic beach bungalows or self-catering Airbnbs then you may find it cheaper to book everything directly.

We have Multiply rewards through our Momentum medical aid so we got a 40% discount on our Mango flights to Zanzibar – this made it cheaper for us to book everything directly.

Is it cheaper for you to book a package deal or to rather book your flights & accommodation independently?

Do a quick check. Find your ideal AfricaStay package and jot down the price. Now go to the Mango Airlines site and play around with dates and times to find the cheapest flight to Zanzibar.

Research the resort directly through their website as well as Agoda and Booking.com to find the best price for your dates (remember to put in your dates to view accurate prices).

Now compare your own flight and accommodation costs to the package deal cost. Remember to factor in the cost of food and drinks if your package deal includes an all-inclusive food and drinks package.

Getting to Zanzibar

There are a few airlines that fly to Zanzibar from South Africa but we won’t recommend them – they’re not direct and take roughly 12 hours instead of 3,5 hours with Mango. You can search on TravelStart for the best flight deals.

Mango Airlines departs Johannesburg (OR Tambo Airport) at 7am (Tuesdays & Saturdays) and at 10am (Thursdays & Sundays).

This means that if you’re not able to get to OR Tambo Airport by 5:30am on a Tuesday or Saturday morning you will have to fly to Johannesburg the night before. *This happened to us, not ideal.

We flew to Zanzibar on a Tuesday morning so we had to book our CPT to JNB flight for the Monday evening (this way we didn’t lose another leave day). We really recommend staying at the Protea Hotel by Marriott OR Thambo which is literally at the airport and so convenient.

You end up saving money on Ubers as they offer free pick up and drop off from the airport and the hotel. You can also wake up later since you’re literally at the airport.

Vaccinations and Visas for Zanzibar

There are no compulsory vaccinations to enter Zanzibar as a South African (at the moment). You will receive a 90 day visa on arrival free of charge (so there is nothing you need to arrange before hand).

See visa regulations if you’re not a South African resident.

How to plan a trip to Zanzibar around the Weather

Zanzibar has warm, sunny weather throughout the year so you can go anytime. If you are flexible then here’s some tips:

Go when there is the least rain and the most clear, blue skies which is June to October. Avoid the long rains which start end March until about end May and the expensive peak season which is from September to January.

Booking Accommodation in Zanzibar

Searching for accommodation can sometimes feel time consuming and tedious. However finding the right spot can really make or break your trip. Here is how we recommend and personally find great accommodation options:

You can either use Agoda or Booking.com which are great options to search through accommodation by using filters (select your price range, location of choice, facilities needed and so forth). We often find Agoda to be the cheapest for the same places found on other platforms.

Or you can search on Airbnb for houses or small apartments.

Review your top choices to make sure it is what they advertise!

We all know hotels can mislead us. We all know at least one person who has booked a beautiful hotel and arrived to a construction site or to facilities that have aged 10 years since their website’s photographs. So please review your top choices by looking at the guest reviews and their personal “unphotoshopped” images on Agoda, Booking.com or Tripadvisor.

We like to “review” accommodation through Instagram. Just go to your search bar on Instagram, type in the resort’s name, click on either their hashtag or location and then browse through all the “normal people” posts. This is a great way to see real traveller’s photos of how blue the pool really is ;). See below our personal search of Langi Langi Beach Bungalows:

Hire a Car or Catch a Taxi

So you’re staying in Stone Town but want to visit ‘The Rock Restaurant’? Or maybe you’re in Nungwi and you want to explore the ‘Kuza Cave’?

If you don’t love scheduled tours, are planning to move around alot and really enjoy flexibility – then definitely rent a car.

We rented a car and drove ourselves around the whole island. You can use the offline app called ‘Maps.Me’ to get yourself around.

We loved the freedom of this!!

We rented a car and organised a taxi from a man in Stone Town called Tamin (you can contact him on whatsapp +256 717 716 035).

Money and ATMS?

Most big resorts, guesthouses and shops will accept credit card. Otherwise you will need to withdraw Tanzanian Shillings from the ATMs. There are ATMS in Stone Town and outside most banks in each town.

What to Pack on your Zanzibar Trip

This is also very personal and dependent on what your island getaway entails. Here are just a few highlighted items we can definitely recommend.

Mosquito/insect repellent, suncream, water shoes for walking along rocky coastlines or reefs, long skirts/sarongs/light pants for covering up in Stone Town or any of the culturally conservative villages and perhaps your own snorkelling gear.

And finally, the most exciting part of ‘how to plan a trip to Zanzibar‘!

Where to go in Zanzibar?

If you’ve decided to book your own accommodation then it’s time to decide where to go. We will try and give you our honest, summarised advice below on the 4 main accommodation areas that we’ve visited:

Stone Town in the West

You may either love it or hate it. We LOVED IT!! It’s a truly cultural experience that we cannot recommend enough. Old narrow streets, antique stores, harbour sunsets, fish markets and friendly people. There are incredible heritage hotels which are worth adding to your itinerary. It is also close to the famous Spice Tours and smaller island excursions.

Beaches in the North

Beautiful swimming beaches at Nungwi and Kendwa with turtle sanctuaries, dhow sunset safaris, fishing villages and Mnembe Island scuba diving opportunities.

Resorts along the East Coast

This long strip of coastline offers an array of accommodation options. The East is known for their beaches with extreme tides and affordable beachfront resorts.

In the North East you have beautiful Matemwe (a close drive to the northern beaches). In the middle you have Kiwengwa which has the benefit of being central to most Zanzibar attractions.

Further South you have Paje and then Jambiani. Their slightly windy beachfront resorts are a nice and close drive away from the ‘Rock Restaurant’, Zanzibar Butterfly World, Jozani National Park and the Kuza Cave.

Private Islands off Zanzibar

If you’re looking for something very secluded and special (slightly more expensive), then book a night or two at a private island off Zanzibar. We stayed at Chapwani Private Island just off Stone Town and it was an absolute spoil!