How much does a Zanzibar holiday cost from South Africa (2026/27)

What's in the price of a Zanzibar package

A package price covers your return flights with their taxes, airport transfers, the hotel and your meal plan. We quote it as one rand figure per person, so you can compare like with like.

What isn't in it:

• Zanzibar's compulsory inbound travel insurance, bought online before you fly.
• The infrastructure tax, paid at the hotel.
• Excursions, spa treatments and diving.
• Meals and drinks your plan doesn't cover, and personal spending.
• Your own travel insurance, which you still need.

2026/27 prices at a glance

What our live Zanzibar packages cost per person sharing, for 5 nights with return flights from Johannesburg on FlySafair, transfers and the meal plan shown. These are the "from" prices on sale on 10 November 2026: From is the lowest, rounded down, and To the highest, rounded up, to R1,000.

Most of these deals are for travel before about 20 December or the first week of January. Christmas, New Year and the school holidays cost more. Seven nights and other dates are quoted to order.

For your own dates, ask us for a quote. We'll price your flights, transfers, room and meal plan in one figure.

What our clients have paid

The live prices above are for five nights. Most of our clients stay longer: seven nights is the typical stay across our Zanzibar bookings.

Flights from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban

Johannesburg has the most non-stop flights, and it's the airport our packages fly from. Cape Town now has one non-stop flight a week. Durban has none, so you connect in Johannesburg.

• Johannesburg: about 3 hours 35 minutes there and just under 4 hours back, non-stop, on two airlines:
  • FlySafair, three a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), the airline on our current packages;
  • Airlink, twice a week (Wednesday and Sunday), with a third flight on Tuesdays from 15 December 2026 to 13 January 2027.
• Cape Town: Airlink, non-stop on Saturdays since October 2026, about 5 hours 15 minutes there and 5 hours 30 back. On other days you connect in Johannesburg.
• Durban: no non-stop flight. You connect in Johannesburg, and we include the connection in your package.
• Connecting airlines: Ethiopian (via Addis Ababa) and Kenya Airways (via Nairobi) sell Zanzibar from all three cities. Keep connections short: more than 12 hours in transit in either country means you need a yellow fever certificate.

Check your quote for checked baggage. FlySafair's cheapest fare is carry-on only (7 kg), and its Standard fare includes one 20 kg bag. Airlink includes 20 kg on discounted economy and 30 kg on full fare, plus 15 kg free for sports equipment such as kitesurfing gear.

Hotel and meal plan

Most Zanzibar beach resorts we sell are all-inclusive, so the main choice is the resort, not the meal plan. On our live packages:

• 3- and 4-star all-inclusive started at R14,490 (Paradise Beach, Uroa) and R18,140 (Reef & Beach, Jambiani).
• 5-star all-inclusive started at R19,600 (JAZ Amaluna, adults only) and ran to R34,190 (Meliá).
• Half board is what you get at a few hotels, such as Sea Cliff (from R21,115) and The Residence, which has no all-inclusive plan but gives every villa its own pool (from R28,450).

Where a resort sells both, we quote half board and all-inclusive side by side. Our view on which is worth it: Zanzibar all-inclusive holidays.

The compulsory extras: insurance and hotel tax

Two charges apply to every visitor, and neither is in a package price.

• Zanzibar inbound travel insurance: USD 44 (about R720) per adult and USD 22 (about R360) per child aged 3 to 17; infants up to 2 are free. Compulsory since 1 October 2024, even if you have your own insurance, and sold only by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation online.
• Infrastructure tax: USD 5 (about R80) per person per day at 4- and 5-star hotels, USD 4 at 2- and 3-star hotels, and USD 10 at hotels on small islands. Children pay it too. The hotel collects it.

What that adds up to:

• A couple, seven nights at a 5-star hotel: insurance USD 88 and tax USD 70, so USD 158 (about R2,580).
• Two adults and two children aged 8 and 10, seven nights at a 4-star hotel: insurance USD 132 and tax USD 140, so USD 272 (about R4,450).

There's also an airport service charge of USD 40 and a safety fee of USD 9 per person on international departures from Zanzibar; children under two are exempt. Your quote shows whether they're in your ticket. South Africans need no visa, so there's no visa fee.

Extras on the island

Budget for what your meal plan doesn't cover:

• Excursions: a Stone Town walk, a spice farm, Prison Island's giant tortoises, Jozani forest's red colobus monkeys, and snorkelling or diving at Mnemba. Resorts and local operators sell them; we can arrange them with your package.
• Spa treatments and diving, charged at every resort.
• Tips, at your discretion.
• Paying: the Bank of Tanzania requires prices and payments in Tanzanian shillings. Cards are accepted, and you can change money at banks and bureaux de change.

On all-inclusive you need little beyond excursions, spa and shopping. On half board, add lunch and drinks for every day.

Your own travel insurance, and protecting your money

Zanzibar's policy covers you only once you've arrived. Your own travel insurance covers cancellation before you go, and it's a condition of booking with us.

Our standard cancellation scale:

• more than 60 days before you leave: you lose the deposit;
• 31 to 60 days: 50% of the package;
• 15 to 30 days: 75%;
• less than 15 days: 100%.

Some hotels and airlines are stricter, and we tell you before you book. We charge no booking fee. And when an airline lets you down, we stand behind you: when Air Tanzania collapsed in 2006, and again in 2019, we refunded every affected client from our own funds, about 200 people. More on how we handle your money: about us.

How season and school holidays move the price

December is our busiest Zanzibar month by far: at least 1 in 5 of our Zanzibar holidays started in December. Christmas and New Year cost most, and flights and rooms go first.

• School holidays 2027: schools close 19 March to 6 April, 25 June to 20 July and 22 September to 5 October, and from 8 December. The December 2026 holiday runs from 9 December to 13 January 2027.
• Book early for fixed dates, especially December and the June/July holiday.
• Value: November and early December, before the festive season, is where most of our live deals sit.

For the weather in each month, see the best time to visit Zanzibar.

How children change the maths

Children pay less on some of the compulsory costs and nothing at some hotels, but every child needs a flight.

• Insurance: USD 22 for ages 3 to 17, free for infants up to 2.
• Infrastructure tax: charged for children at the same rate as adults.
• Hotels: each sets its own children's rates. Diamonds Bijoux, for example, says under-4s stay free. We confirm each child's rate in your quote.
• Kids clubs: free or charged depending on the resort. Riu Jambo's RIU Land takes ages 4 to 12, and The Mora's and Kwanza's kids clubs ages 3 to 12.
• Adults-only hotels such as Riu Palace Swahili, JAZ Amaluna and Zawadi don't take children.

Compared with Mauritius, Zanzibar's family offers are thinner. At Beachcomber in Mauritius, children aged 11 and under get the all-inclusive free all year, which can make Mauritius cheaper for a family even when the adult price is higher. See Mauritius or Zanzibar and what a Mauritius holiday costs.

How to get the best price

• Travel in November or early December if you can: that's where our lowest live prices are.
• Book Christmas and the June/July holiday early.
• Fly from Johannesburg, which has five non-stop flights a week; from Cape Town, ask us about Airlink's Saturday flight.
• Pick the coast before the hotel. The north lets you swim at any tide; the east coast has the big all-inclusive resorts at lower prices, with a tide to plan around. Our Zanzibar guide explains.
• Ask about villas. A swim-up or private-pool villa at a smaller resort can cost less than a sea-view room at a big one.

Related

• Zanzibar holidays
• Zanzibar All-Inclusive Holidays
• Zanzibar travel requirements for South Africans (2026/27)
• The best time to visit Zanzibar from South Africa
• Mauritius or Zanzibar? An honest comparison for South Africans
• How much does a Mauritius holiday cost from South Africa (2027)