Money
Cheaper per night than the safari it follows
Which is why a beach week is frequently the most affordable part of a long trip, and why people over-buy hotel and under-buy days.
| Per person per night | What it buys |
|---|---|
| US$800 – 1,200 | Established camps in genuinely good locations, a private vehicle throughout, light-aircraft hops between parks rather than long road transfers, and guiding that is a profession rather than a job. The entry point to a safari that does not compromise. |
| US$1,200 – 1,800 | Camps on private land, where the rules change: off-road driving to a sighting, night drives, walking with an armed guide, and a cap on how many vehicles may attend anything. Usually the point at which people stop comparing safaris on price. |
| US$1,800 – 2,500 | The camps people name when they get home. Six to ten tents, an owner or manager who is present, a guide assigned to you for the stay, and food that would hold its own in a city. |
| US$2,500 – 4,000 | A guide who travels with you from park to park rather than being handed over at each one, private charters on your own schedule, and small camps taken whole for your party. |
| US$4,000 and up | Exclusive-use houses and villas with their own staff, mobile expedition camps built for your route, and private aircraft between countries. Bought for privacy and control rather than for thread count. |
Indicative planning ranges only, per person per night sharing, for a fully inclusive safari — accommodation, meals, park and conservancy fees, guiding, and transport between parks. They are what we see in the market, not a quote and not an official tariff. Your quote will be exact and itemised. International flights are not included.
Zanzibar sits lower in these bands than a safari camp does. The island has a deep field at every level, from simple guesthouses to properties that would be expensive anywhere.
What sits on top
- Flights to the island, usually a short hop and modest by East African standards.
- Transfers, which can be an hour or more from the airport depending on the coast.
- Excursions, which are mostly inexpensive — Jozani, a spice farm, a dhow — and worth doing privately.
- Diving, which is the one activity that adds up, and is worth it on the north-east.
- Drinks, since fewer hotels here are fully inclusive than at a safari camp.
Where to spend
On days rather than hotel. Six nights at a good hotel beats four at a grand one, particularly on a coast where the tide shapes the day.
On the right coast, because a cheaper hotel on the coast that suits you beats a dearer one on the coast that does not.
On a night or two in Stone Town, which costs little and is the part people remember.
On private excursions rather than shared ones. The difference in cost is small and the difference in experience is not.
Where not to
On a villa for two people, generally — the maths works from about six, as it does everywhere. And on a resort chosen for its photographs without checking which coast it is on.
Season
Rates move a great deal here. The long rains around April and May are the cheapest and the riskiest, with some hotels closed. Christmas, New Year and the European summer are the peaks.
The shoulder months either side of the peaks are excellent value and the weather is frequently indistinguishable.
What we itemise
Rooms, flights, transfers, excursions and any diving package, separately, so you can see what a night in Stone Town or a private dhow actually adds. Both are usually less than people assume.
Ready to turn this into a real itinerary?
Send us your dates, who is travelling and roughly what you want to spend per person per night. Our Zanzibar specialist comes back within 24 hours with a plan built around them and a costed quote.