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Last checked: October 2026.
The arrival hall is where a Zanzibar holiday starts to feel real: warm air through the doors, the smell of the island, and, if you have not prepared, a queue. This page is the order of events from the aircraft steps to the car door, written so nothing surprises you. Almost everything that takes time at this airport can be settled before you fly; the things that slow arrivals are cash, a code on a phone and an unbooked driver.
The detail
The two terminals. Terminal 3 is the newer international building, run by dnata under concession since the early 2020s, with the visa desks and the lounge. Terminal 2 handles domestic and some regional and international flights, including Dar es Salaam, Arusha, the Serengeti airstrips and Pemba, and is a five-minute landside walk away. There is no airside connection, so a safari-to-island arrival means walking out of one building and past the taxi rank of the other. If you fly in from the mainland on a domestic flight you will usually go straight to the baggage belt, though carry your passport and insurance proof, because Zanzibar can check documents separately.
Step one: health check. Yellow fever certificates are checked if you have arrived from, or transited for 12 hours or more through, a risk country; Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia are on the list; Rwanda is not. Rules change, so the official health guidance and your travel clinic have the final word before you travel.
Step two: insurance and visa at immigration. Zanzibar requires foreign visitors who enter there first to hold its inbound travel insurance from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, about $44 per adult; your own travel policy does not replace it. The full rules are in Zanzibar's mandatory travel insurance explained. The confirmation is a QR code, on your phone or printed, and it is checked with your visa at the immigration desk. UK government guidance also allows purchase at the port of entry, but that adds to the queue; buy it online before you fly and keep the printout in your passport. Many nationalities can get a Tanzania visa on arrival, but the fee depends on your passport: $50 for a single entry for most nationalities, and $100 for US and Irish passports. GOV.UK says multiple-entry visas are not issued on arrival, so for those passports check the e-visa route before you fly. Pay in clean, recent US dollar notes; card machines exist and are not always working. The rules passport by passport, and the e-visa route, are in our Zanzibar visa guide. When one aircraft lands the desks take 15 minutes; when a wide-body from Istanbul and a European charter land together, an hour, which is why your flight's arrival time matters more here than at most airports.
Safari first, then the island. UK government guidance says you need insurance for your first port of entry only: mainland Tanzania first means the mainland (NIC) policy, Zanzibar first means the Zanzibar (ZIC) policy. Which one applies depends on your dates and route, and your planner will tell you which.
Step three: bags and the doors. Baggage reclaim is small and the belts are slow to start. Customs is usually a glance. Then the doors open onto a crowd of drivers, hotel boards, porters and freelancers, all at once, in the heat. The way through it is a name: a driver you have pre-booked holds a board with your name on it; find the board, not the loudest voice. Porters who take your trolley expect a dollar or two a bag; agree it before they lift anything.
Walk-up or pre-booked. Walk-up taxis wait outside and typically quote 30 to 80 per cent above the pre-booked rate. For a 15-minute hop to Stone Town that premium is small and a walk-up car is a reasonable choice; pre-booking matters most for the hour-plus drives to the east and north coasts, especially after a late landing.
SIM cards and cash. Mobile-network kiosks in arrivals sell tourist SIMs and need your passport to register; carry dollars for the visa, since the airport ATM is not always stocked. Networks, data and Wi-Fi are covered in SIM cards and Wi-Fi in Zanzibar, and notes, cards and tipping in money in Zanzibar.
Transfer times to each coast. Typical road times from the airport on a normal day; traffic, speed bumps and roadworks move them, so plan for the upper figure.
| Coast | Drive from the airport | Pre-booked car fare |
|---|---|---|
| Stone Town | 15–20 min | ~$15 |
| Paje and Jambiani (south-east) | 60–75 min | ~$35 |
| Kizimkazi and the south-west | 60–75 min | — |
| Bwejuu and Michamvi | 60–75 min | — |
| Matemwe, Kiwengwa, Pwani Mchangani (north-east) | 60–75 min | — |
| Nungwi and Kendwa (north) | 75–80 min | ~$45 |
Fares are for the car, not per person, and where no fare is shown we have not found a reliable one. How you move around once you are there is in getting around Zanzibar.
Leaving. For an international departure, be at Terminal 3 three hours before; check-in and the first security screen slow down when several wide-bodies leave in the same evening wave. Domestic flights from Terminal 2 need about an hour. International fares include Zanzibar's airport charges (reported since 2009), so the tax breakdown on your ticket shows what is included, and there is normally no cash desk to pay at. The Terminal 3 lounge accepts Priority Pass and sells walk-in access for around $40. Dress is relaxed, but this is a Muslim island and the airport is not a beach; shoulders and knees covered is the easy courtesy. Download your boarding pass before you leave the hotel.
Key facts
Airport: Abeid Amani Karume International (ZNZ), ~6 km from Stone Town. International: Terminal 3. Domestic and some regional: Terminal 2, 5-minute walk, landside only. Arrival order: health check → immigration (insurance QR checked with visa) → bags → customs. Visa fees: $50 single entry for most; $100 US and Irish passports (check multiple-entry route before you fly); cash dollars. Insurance: ~$44 adult / $22 child, Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, buy online before travel. Time in the hall: 30–90 min. To Stone Town: 15–20 min. To Paje: 60–75 min. To Nungwi: 75–80 min. Departure: international 3 h before; airport charges included in international fares.
Planning it with Nobu
The arrival is a planning problem more than a travel one: which flight lands in a quiet window, which documents to print, and which cover applies after a safari. A pre-booked driver, if you arrange one, is the simplest way past the doors. Designing the journey rather than selling the room means thinking about the first hour on the island as carefully as the last night. Tell us your flight when you plan your journey; if the island closes a safari, see Southern Safari and Spice.
Is it right for you?
This page is right for you if you are arriving on an international flight and want to know exactly what happens between the aircraft and the car, if you are landing late and want the first night close by, or if you are coming off a safari into Terminal 2 and need to know where to walk. It is less useful if your arrival is fully hosted and pre-cleared, where the first and last paragraphs of section 2 are enough, or if you are staying for months, where the visa guide matters more than the arrival hall. If you need step-free assistance from the aircraft, request it from your airline when you book; accessible Zanzibar covers the island beyond the airport. For what to know once the car pulls away, read what to know before you go.
Journeys to consider
- Shores of Zanzibar — the island stay that begins at these doors. Shores of Zanzibar island journey
- Southern Safari and Spice — the Tanzania safari with the island at its end, arriving via Terminal 2. Southern Safari and Spice journey
- The Great Migration Circuit — the Serengeti, then the coast. The Great Migration Circuit journey
