Zanzibar travel requirements for South Africans (2026/27)
South Africans need no visa for Zanzibar. You do need Zanzibar's compulsory insurance (USD 44 per adult) and an online health form completed within 24 hours before you land. Take a passport valid for six months with two blank pages. Flying direct, no yellow fever certificate is needed.
Your checklist for Zanzibar
- Passport: valid for at least six months from the day you arrive, with at least two blank pages.
- Return ticket: you must show it on arrival.
- Zanzibar inbound travel insurance: compulsory, bought online from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation before you fly. Keep the certificate on your phone.
- Public Health Surveillance Form: online, within 24 hours before you land.
- Yellow fever certificate: only if you have been in, or spent more than 12 hours in transit through, a country with yellow fever risk, such as Kenya or Ethiopia.
- Malaria: see a travel clinic or your doctor before you go.
- Children: an unabridged birth certificate unless the parents' details are printed in the child's passport, and a consent affidavit if only one parent travels.
- Your own travel insurance: still needed. Zanzibar's policy doesn't replace it.
Do South Africans need a visa for Zanzibar?
No. South Africa is on Tanzania's list of countries whose citizens need no visa, and Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, so there's no separate Zanzibar visa. Your entry also covers mainland Tanzania if you combine the two.
You may still find older pages, including a 2017 list from Tanzania's High Commission in Pretoria, saying South Africans need a USD 50 visa. That has been replaced: Tanzania's current visa-free list includes South Africa, and its 2026 guidelines exempt citizens of SADC countries, except the Comoros.
Tanzania's official pages don't state how many days a South African may stay. For an ordinary holiday that isn't a concern; if you plan a long stay, ask us and we'll check.
Passport and return ticket
Your passport should be valid for at least six months from the day you arrive, with at least two blank pages. Tanzania's own guidelines ask for six months' validity and an unused page, and South Africa's Department of International Relations advises six months and enough blank pages, warning against travelling with fewer than two.
Tanzania's guidelines also say every visitor must show a return ticket on arrival. Your e-ticket on your phone is enough, but we suggest a printed copy too.
Zanzibar's compulsory travel insurance
Since 1 October 2024, every visitor to Zanzibar who isn't a resident must hold an inbound travel insurance policy from the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC). It's compulsory even if you already have travel or medical insurance.
What it costs, on the official purchase site:
- Adults: USD 44 (about R720).
- Children aged 3 to 17: half price, USD 22 (about R360).
- Infants up to 2: free.
How it works:
- Buy it online before you fly, only at the official site, inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz. You get a certificate with a QR code, which may be scanned when you arrive.
- It's valid for up to 92 consecutive days from your arrival, and covers a trip to the mainland and back within that time.
- What it covers: emergency medical treatment up to USD 50,000, evacuation and repatriation, delayed or lost baggage (up to USD 200 and USD 400), personal liability and some legal costs. It doesn't cover pre-existing conditions.
What it doesn't do is protect your holiday before you leave. It starts on arrival, so it can't cover cancellation, and its baggage and medical limits are modest. Keep your own travel insurance as well: it's a condition of booking with us anyway.
Arriving through Dar es Salaam
Mainland Tanzania introduced its own compulsory inbound insurance in September 2026, but residents of SADC countries, South Africa included, are exempt from it. Zanzibar's insurer has said that exemption doesn't apply to Zanzibar. So if you fly into Dar es Salaam and go on to Zanzibar, buy the Zanzibar policy before you cross.
The online health form
Zanzibar's Ministry of Health requires every traveller to complete a Public Health Surveillance Form online within 24 hours before arrival, at healthtravelznz.mohz.go.tz. It's free. Use only the official site.
The form matters more this year. The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak centred on the Democratic Republic of the Congo a public health emergency of international concern on 17 May 2026, and Kenya has had cases. If your route goes through Nairobi, or you've been in East or Central Africa in the past three weeks, tell us before you book, and we'll check the current screening rules.
Do you need a yellow fever vaccination for Zanzibar?
Not on a direct flight from South Africa. Tanzania asks for a yellow fever certificate only from travellers aged one or over who arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, or who spent more than 12 hours in transit at an airport in one. South Africa isn't a risk country, and the World Health Organization doesn't recommend the vaccine for Tanzania.
It matters when you connect:
- Via Nairobi (Kenya) or Addis Ababa (Ethiopia): both are on the WHO's yellow fever list. A short connection is fine; more than 12 hours in transit means you need a certificate. Zanzibar's own rule speaks of 12 hours outside the airport, and says travellers without a certificate may be vaccinated on arrival at their own cost.
- Via Dar es Salaam, Dubai or Doha: none of these is a risk country.
- Coming home: South Africa removed Tanzania from its yellow fever list in 2015, so you need no certificate to come home from Zanzibar. You do need one if you've also been in Kenya or Ethiopia, for example on safari.
- Adding Mauritius: Mauritius's own government list of yellow fever areas includes Tanzania. If you combine Zanzibar and Mauritius on one trip, plan to carry a certificate.
If you need it, book a travel clinic well before you fly: they give the vaccine and issue the certificate.
Is there malaria in Zanzibar?
Yes, but very little. The World Health Organization's Africa office put Zanzibar's malaria prevalence below 1% in 2022, and Tanzania's 2022 national survey found no positive tests among the children it tested in Zanzibar.
Even so, the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control still treat all of Tanzania below 1,800 m, Zanzibar included, as a malaria area, and advise antimalarial tablets as well as avoiding bites. South Africa's NICD reminds travellers that the risk is highest during and after the rains.
What we suggest:
- See a travel clinic or your doctor about four weeks before you go, and tell them it's Zanzibar. Children and pregnant travellers especially need advice.
- Avoid bites from dusk: repellent, long sleeves in the evening, and a net or air-conditioning at night.
- If you get a fever in the weeks after you come home, see a doctor and say you've been to Zanzibar.
Travelling with children
South Africa's Border Management Authority asks for:
- An unabridged birth certificate for every South African child, unless the parents' details are printed in the child's passport;
- A consent affidavit from the parent who isn't travelling, if a child travels with only one parent.
Children aged 3 to 17 pay USD 22 for Zanzibar's insurance; infants up to 2 are free.
Money and local charges
- 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 2 at others, and USD 10 at hotels on small islands. The law has no exemption for children. The hotel collects it.
- Airport charges: international departures from Zanzibar carry an airport service charge of USD 40 and a safety fee of USD 9; children under two are exempt. Your quote shows whether they're in your ticket.
- 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.
For what everything adds up to, see what a Zanzibar holiday costs.
Frequently asked questions
Do South Africans need a visa for Zanzibar?
No. South Africa is on Tanzania's visa-free list, and Zanzibar, as part of Tanzania, has no separate visa. You need a passport valid for six months with blank pages, and a return ticket.
How much is Zanzibar's compulsory travel insurance?
USD 44 (about R720) per adult and USD 22 per child aged 3 to 17, on the official purchase site; infants up to 2 are free. It's sold only by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation at inbound.visitzanzibar.go.tz and is valid for up to 92 days.
Is Zanzibar's insurance compulsory if I have my own travel insurance?
Yes. Zanzibar requires its own policy from every non-resident visitor, whatever other cover you hold. Keep your own policy too: Zanzibar's starts only when you arrive, so it doesn't cover cancellation.
Do I need a yellow fever certificate for Zanzibar?
Not if you fly direct from South Africa. You need one only if you've been in, or spent more than 12 hours in transit through, a yellow fever risk country such as Kenya or Ethiopia. If you add Mauritius to the trip, carry one: Mauritius lists Tanzania as a yellow fever area.
Do I need malaria tablets for Zanzibar?
Zanzibar's malaria risk is very low, but the WHO and the CDC still advise antimalarial tablets for all of Tanzania below 1,800 m, Zanzibar included. Ask a travel clinic or your doctor, and avoid mosquito bites from dusk.
Is there a health form for Zanzibar?
Yes. Zanzibar's Ministry of Health requires a Public Health Surveillance Form, completed online within 24 hours before you arrive, at healthtravelznz.mohz.go.tz. It's free.
How long must my passport be valid for Zanzibar?
At least six months from the day you arrive, with at least two blank pages.
Is there a tourist tax in Zanzibar?
Yes. The infrastructure tax is USD 5 per person per day at 4- and 5-star hotels, less at smaller hotels and more on small islands, for adults and children alike. The hotel collects it.