Our Tanzanian counter is on Zanzibar, the island of Unguja off the mainland coast. It is small enough to cross in about an hour and a half, and a car turns it from a string of separate resorts into one island: Stone Town fifteen minutes from the airport, the east-coast lagoons at Paje in about an hour, and the northern tip at Nungwi in an hour and a half – driving on the left, in a right-hand-drive car.
Our Tanzanian counter is on Zanzibar, the island of Unguja off the mainland coast. It is small enough to cross in about an hour and a half, and a car turns it from a string of separate resorts into one island: Stone Town fifteen minutes from the airport, the east-coast lagoons at Paje in about an hour, and the northern tip at Nungwi in an hour and a half – driving on the left, in a right-hand-drive car.
Debit card, not credit card
You do not need a credit card to rent in Zanzibar. The refundable security deposit is taken on your debit card and released after you return the car; its amount is shown on each car before you book.
Deposit and excess shown up front
Each car lists its insurance options, its excess and the refundable debit-card deposit before you book, so nothing about the cover is a surprise at the desk.
Local rates, not airport markups
Direct prices from Zanzibari partners. What you book is what you pay at pick-up, with no counter fee added at the terminal.
Unlimited mileage
Hotel transfers on Zanzibar are priced one trip at a time. Nothing we rent charges by the kilometre, so the north, the east coast and Stone Town all fit in one stay for one price.
Built for a late landing
Many long-haul flights land in the evening or connect through the Gulf. Add your flight number at booking and the desk follows the arrival rather than the clock.
One counter, at Zanzibar Airport just south of Stone Town. Open its page for the road out of the terminal, drive times and what is worth the detour on the island.
Each region is measured from Zanzibar Airport, on the west coast of Unguja, from where single main roads run north, east and south across the island.
The UNESCO-listed old town 15 min from the terminal, with the spice farms around Kizimbani about half an hour inland and the Fumba peninsula and Menai Bay sandbanks 30–40 min to the south-west.
The island's northern tip, about 1h30 up the main road: beaches where the tide barely drops, sunset dhow cruises, and Matemwe on the north-east coast facing Mnemba Atoll in about 1h–1h15.
Long white beaches and shallow lagoons about an hour east, where the tide goes out half a kilometre and the kitesurfers gather, with Michamvi and its restaurant on a rock at the peninsula's end.
Jozani Forest and its red colobus monkeys about 40 min from the airport, on the road east, and the fishing village of Kizimkazi on the southern tip, where boats go out to look for dolphins, in about an hour.
Left-hand traffic, a local permit and roads shared with bicycles, scooters, goats and minibuses that stop wherever a passenger waves.
Drive on the left
Tanzania keeps left and the cars are right-hand drive, with the gear lever on your left. Roundabouts run clockwise, and you give way to traffic coming from your right.
A local permit as well as your licence
Visiting drivers need a temporary Zanzibar driving permit alongside their national licence. Rental partners normally arrange it at pick-up for a fee; bring your licence, and an international permit if you have one.
Checkpoints and low limits
Police checkpoints with radar guns are common, especially on the roads to the north and east. Limits are low – 50 km/h or less through the villages that line most roads – so keep to the signs and keep your papers to hand.
Speed bumps and dala-dalas
Unmarked speed bumps guard every village, and dala-dala minibuses stop without warning to pick up passengers. Leave space ahead, and watch for bicycles, children and livestock on the verge.
Avoid driving after dark
Few roads outside Stone Town have street lights, and unlit bicycles and pedestrians share them at night. Plan long drives for daylight; the sun sets around 18:30 all year.
Minimum age 21
With at least one year of driving experience. Some vehicle categories set a higher minimum, and it is shown on the car while you are still choosing.
Yes. You pay with a debit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on that debit card at pick-up, on every insurance tier, and released after you return the car. The amount is shown on each car before you book, so you know what will be held before you travel.
It depends on the car and the cover you choose, and it is shown on each car before you book. It is held on your debit card at pick-up and released after you return the car; your bank may take a few working days to show it. Check that your card allows payments abroad.
At Zanzibar Airport (ZNZ), about 7 km south of Stone Town on the island of Unguja. It is our only Tanzanian counter for now; your voucher names the terminal, the meeting point and your pick-up time.
Yes. Visiting drivers need a temporary Zanzibar permit as well as their national licence. The rental partner normally arranges it at pick-up for a fee, so bring your licence with you and keep the permit in the car.
Most visitors settle in within the first hour. Traffic is slow and the main roads are simple, which helps. Take the first roundabouts carefully – they run clockwise – and remember that a turn across traffic is now a right turn.
Most visitors need a Tanzanian visa, available as an e-visa or, for many nationalities, on arrival. Zanzibar also requires its own inbound travel insurance, bought online before you fly. Check both rules before travelling, as they change.
Plan on keeping the car on Unguja. Taking a rental car on a ferry needs the partner's written permission, which is rarely given. For a mainland safari, fly or take the ferry to Dar es Salaam on foot and travel on from there.
June to October, when it is dry and cooler, and December to February, which is hot but mostly dry. The long rains from March to May flood the side roads to the beaches and make driving slow.
Book in minutes, see the deposit on each car before you choose, and collect your car at Zanzibar Airport when you land.
