Tanzania

Destinations

Visa & entry

eu passport	Visa required (EU nationals are not on Tanzania's visa-exemption list). Available as eVisa in advance or visa-on-arrival at main entry ports (single-entry only on arrival). Visa-on-arrival fee is USD 50 or USD 100 depending on category/nationality reciprocity, payable in clean USD 50 or USD 100 notes (per en.wikipedia.org Visa policy of Tanzania, fetched 2026-08-22).
us passport	Visa required. US citizens are commonly charged USD 100 (reciprocal multiple-entry fee) versus the USD 50 rate for many other nationalities — this differential is well-established general knowledge but the exact 2026 breakdown by nationality was not itemized on the primary immigration site this session.
uk passport	Visa required (gov.uk confirms UK citizens must obtain a tourist/business visa). eVisa recommended in advance via https://visa.immigration.go.tz/; visa-on-arrival available but single-entry only.
entry or eco taxes	Zanzibar-specific: since 1 October 2024, all visitors to Zanzibar must hold mandatory travel insurance issued by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, separate from the national visa (confirmed by gov.uk and Wikipedia, fetched 2026-08-22) — functions as a de facto mandatory add-on cost for the Jambiani/Nungwi/Paje destinations in this batch.
digital nomad visa	No dedicated digital nomad visa identified for Tanzania.
tax residency days	183 days is the commonly cited general threshold; not verified against a Tanzanian primary tax-authority source this session.
notes	Passport must be valid 6+ months beyond arrival. Yellow fever certificate required if arriving from a yellow-fever-endemic country. Mpox temperature screening reported at entry points (gov.uk, 2026).

Money

currency	TZS (Tanzanian Shilling); USD cash widely used/accepted for tourism services (safaris, some hotels, visa fees).
card acceptance	Limited outside Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar Stone Town, and resort hotels — most kite centers and guesthouses in Paje/Jambiani/Nungwi are cash-oriented; carry USD and/or TZS.
atm networks fees limits	NMB and CRDB are major domestic ATM networks; ATMs are less common/reliable directly in Paje/Jambiani/Nungwi than in Stone Town — plan to withdraw or exchange in advance. USD cash brought into the country must generally be newer series (post-2006), clean and unmarked, or banks/bureaus may refuse it — a well-known Tanzania-specific practical trap (general travel knowledge, not re-verified against a primary bank source this session).
local instant payment	M-Pesa (Vodacom) is the dominant mobile-money system domestically; tourist registration for M-Pesa is possible with a passport in principle but reported as inconsistent/cumbersome in practice per general trip reports — not confirmed against an official Vodacom tourist-SIM policy this session.
scams	Overcharging/haggling expected as norm in informal tourist commerce Police roadside stops with invented infractions soliciting small bribes (TSh 1,000-5,000) reported on Zanzibar per Wikivoyage
tipping	Expected in the tourism sector — kite instructors, drivers, and guides; ~10% or a per-day cash tip is typical.
cash tips	TSh cash in small denominations useful for day-to-day tipping; USD also commonly given for guides/instructors.

SIM & internet

operators ranked for coast coverage	Vodacom (generally best coastal/Zanzibar coverage) Airtel Tanzania Tigo (Mixx by Yas) Halotel
esim options	Airalo Tanzania eSIM
id required for sim	Yes — passport (and reportedly biometric/fingerprint registration in some cases) required for prepaid SIM registration in Tanzania.
starlink status	Not confirmed licensed for general consumer use in mainland Tanzania/Zanzibar as of research date — flagged as open question rather than assumed available.
notes	Buy SIM at Julius Nyerere (Dar) or Abeid Amani Karume (Zanzibar) airport for straightforward passport registration.

Insurance

kite excluded by standard policies	Yes, typically — kitesurfing/watersports generally excluded from standard travel policies. Note the mandatory Zanzibar Insurance Corporation policy (effective Oct 2024) is a baseline/medical-style requirement, not sports coverage — travelers still need separate kitesurf-specific cover.
recommended	Specialist watersports/kitesurf travel insurance with medical evacuation, in addition to (for Zanzibar) the mandatory local insurance.
evacuation note	Flying-doctor style air-evacuation services (e.g., AMREF Flying Doctors) are the commonly cited real-world option for serious injuries in remote coastal Tanzania/Zanzibar; not independently verified against a primary provider page this session.

Health

vaccines	Routine vaccines current; Hepatitis A recommended (1yr+); Hepatitis B recommended (under 60); Typhoid recommended for most travelers; Measles (MMR) strongly advised; Polio booster advised (poliovirus identified in Tanzania within the past year per CDC); Cholera vaccination may be considered given widespread active transmission; Yellow fever not generally required/recommended for direct travel from US/EU/UK but may be required if arriving from an endemic country (CDC, checked 2026).
mosquito disease seasons	Malaria transmission occurs in all areas below 1,800m elevation (covers all coastal kite destinations in this batch) — prescription antimalarial medication recommended (CDC). Dengue also a risk with no vaccine available; standard mosquito-bite avoidance is the main defense.
tap water	Not safe to drink untreated — use bottled or properly filtered/treated water.
emergency numbers	No single confirmed unified emergency number found this session (Tanzania does not have a consistently advertised 911-style national line); rely on hotel/dive-shop/kite-center emergency contacts and local hospital numbers — flagged as open question.
hospital standard	Basic on Zanzibar itself (e.g., Mnazi Mmoja Hospital, Stone Town); serious cases are typically referred/evacuated to Dar es Salaam or, for the most severe cases, Nairobi (general knowledge, not primary-sourced).
pharmacy notes	Pharmacies available in Stone Town and larger towns; more limited directly in Paje/Jambiani/Nungwi — bring key personal medication and a basic first-aid kit.

Driving

idp needed	Yes, an International Driving Permit is generally recommended/required for foreign drivers.
road safety	Roads are reported as sometimes in poor condition with sudden hazards (potholes, animals, pedestrians); avoid night driving where possible (Wikivoyage, fetched 2026-08-22).
rental traps	Self-drive is discouraged by general travel guidance; hiring a local driver is the common practical approach, especially for reaching Paje/Jambiani/Nungwi from the airport.
4x4 contexts	Useful for unpaved/rural stretches to south-east Zanzibar villages (Paje/Jambiani), especially in the rainy season.
police stops	Common; Wikivoyage reports officers sometimes inventing minor offenses to solicit small bribes (TSh 1,000-5,000) — treat as a known practical friction point, not confirmed by an official source.

Regulation

kite rules national	No dedicated national kitesurfing law identified; Paje in particular has informal self-regulated kite zones among local kite schools due to beach congestion (general kite-community knowledge, not an official regulation).
drone rules	Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) requires an advance drone-flying permit; unpermitted drones are reportedly at real risk of confiscation at the airport — a frequently cited practical trap for travelers in trip reports, though the exact 2026 application process was not retrieved from a primary source this session.
protected areas	Menai Bay Conservation Area (south Zanzibar) and Chumbe Island Coral Park are notable marine-protected areas near the south-east coast kite destinations.

Calendar & costs

holidays moving prices	Sauti za Busara music festival (Feb, Stone Town) — regional accommodation price spikes Ramadan (dates shift yearly) — some restaurant hours/atmosphere changes island-wide Peak kite season windows (roughly Dec-Feb and Jun-Sep) — accommodation price spikes tied to wind season, not a public holiday
school holidays	Not itemized this session — general Tanzanian school calendar not independently verified.
currency	TZS
year	2026

Kite bag on airlines flying here

airline: Precision Air / Coastal Aviation (domestic Dar–Zanzibar hops)
policy: Small domestic aircraft with tighter checked-baggage weight limits than international carriers; oversized kite-gear bags are a recurring pain point in kite trip reports (excess baggage fees or need to pre-arrange cargo space), but exact 2026 fee/weight tables were not retrieved from a primary source this session.
year: 2026

Full airline table →

Open questions

Exact 2026 eVisa/visa-on-arrival fee breakdown by nationality (the USD 50 vs USD 100 split) not itemized from a primary source this session.
Enforcement consistency of the mandatory Zanzibar Insurance Corporation policy at entry not confirmed (some trip reports suggest inconsistent checking).
Whether tourists can practically register M-Pesa Tanzania not confirmed against an official Vodacom page.
No confirmed unified national emergency phone number found.
Starlink availability in Tanzania/Zanzibar not confirmed.
Cost-of-living figures not obtained — Numbeo was rate-limiting (HTTP 429) during research.

Sources: gov.uk · en.wikipedia.org · wwwnc.cdc.gov · en.wikivoyage.org