Zanzibar Airport sits on the west coast of Unguja, 7 km south of Stone Town, with the island's main roads fanning out north, east and south from the city. Collect your car on arrival and you are fifteen minutes from the old town, forty from the red colobus monkeys of Jozani Forest, about an hour from the lagoons at Paje and Kizimkazi in the south, and an hour and a half from Nungwi – driving on the left, with a local permit arranged at pick-up.
Zanzibar Airport sits on the west coast of Unguja, 7 km south of Stone Town, with the island's main roads fanning out north, east and south from the city. Collect your car on arrival and you are fifteen minutes from the old town, forty from the red colobus monkeys of Jozani Forest, about an hour from the lagoons at Paje and Kizimkazi in the south, and an hour and a half from Nungwi – driving on the left, with a local permit arranged at pick-up.
Zanzibar car hire: debit card, not credit card
You can rent without a credit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on your debit card at pick-up and released after return; the amount is 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.
No airport surcharge
Direct prices from Zanzibari partners. What you book is what you pay at pick-up, with no desk fee bolted on at the terminal.
Cheaper than a week of transfers
A taxi from the airport to Nungwi and back, plus a day trip to Stone Town and one to Jozani, quickly adds up. With a car the island is yours for the week, at your own times.
Built for a late landing
Add your flight number at booking and the desk works to the real landing time, not the time on the voucher.
The airport is on the edge of Zanzibar Town, so the old town, the spice farms and the boats to the southern sandbanks are all within forty minutes.
The UNESCO-listed old town: carved wooden doors, the Old Fort, the Anglican cathedral built over the last slave market, and the Forodhani Gardens food stalls at sunset. Park on the edge and walk – the lanes are too narrow for cars.
The farms inland around Kizimbani grow the cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla that made Zanzibar's fortune. Guided walks let you pick, smell and taste each one; most finish with a fruit tasting.
The island's only national park, home to the Zanzibar red colobus, a monkey found nowhere else. A short trail leads through the forest to the troops, and a boardwalk crosses the mangroves nearby.
The quiet peninsula south-west of the airport, where day boats leave for the sandbanks, mangroves and snorkelling reefs of the Menai Bay conservation area. Book the boat the day before.
From the airport three main roads cross the island: north to Nungwi, east to the lagoons and south to Kizimkazi. Each is a comfortable day, or the start of a stay.
about 1h30 to Nungwi
Up the main road to the northern tip, where the beaches keep their water at low tide and the dhow builders still work on the sand. Stay for a sunset cruise, and drive back before dark or stay the night.
about 1h to Paje
East past Jozani to the long white beaches of Paje and Jambiani, where the lagoon empties at low tide and the kitesurfers ride the trade winds. Continue north up the peninsula to Michamvi and the restaurant built on a rock in the sea.
about 1h one way
South to the fishing village of Kizimkazi, where boats go out in the morning to look for dolphins, and the coral-stone mosque with one of the oldest inscriptions in East Africa. Go early: the dolphins are seen mostly before ten.
about 1h–1h15 one way
North-east to Matemwe, a long, quiet village beach facing Mnemba Atoll, where boats leave for some of the clearest snorkelling around the island. At low tide the reef flats stretch out to the horizon.
Sort the permit before you leave
Visiting drivers need a temporary Zanzibar permit as well as their licence. The partner normally arranges it at pick-up; keep it with the rental papers, because checkpoints ask for both.
Keep left from the car park
Zanzibar drives on the left, in right-hand-drive cars. The first junction out of the airport is where habit takes over, so take the first roundabouts slowly – they run clockwise.
Stop politely at checkpoints
Police checks are frequent on the roads north and east. Slow down, greet the officer, and show licence, permit and rental papers. If a fine is issued, ask for an official receipt.
Slow for every village
Speed bumps are often unpainted, and limits drop to 50 km/h or less through each village. The tracks down to many beach hotels are sand or broken tarmac, so take them at walking pace.
Fill up near Stone Town
Fuel stations are plentiful around Zanzibar Town and thin out towards the north and east coasts. Fill up before a long day out, and pay in Tanzanian shillings.
Be at your hotel by sunset
The sun sets around 18:30 all year, and the roads outside town are unlit and busy with bicycles and pedestrians. Plan the drive to Nungwi or Paje for daylight.
Yes – you rent with a debit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on that debit card at pick-up and released after you return the car. Its amount is shown on each car before you book, so you know exactly what will be held.
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.
Your voucher names the terminal, the exact meeting point and your pick-up time. International flights use the newer Terminal 3; domestic flights from the mainland arrive at the older terminal next to it.
The car is held for an hour past your booked pick-up time, within the station's opening hours. Give us your flight number when you book and the desk can follow the actual arrival rather than the time on the voucher.
Yes. Visiting drivers need a temporary Zanzibar permit alongside their national licence. The partner normally arranges it at pick-up for a fee, so bring your licence and keep the permit in the car for checkpoints.
About 1h30 to Nungwi in the north and about an hour to Paje on the east coast. The roads are paved but pass through many villages with speed bumps, so allow extra time and arrive before dark.
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.
Twenty-one, with at least a year of driving behind you. Some vehicle categories ask for more; each car shows its minimum next to the deposit before you book.
Zanzibar Airport (ZNZ)
Book in minutes with a debit card, see the deposit on each car before you choose, and collect at the terminal when you land.
