Where to buy a SIM card in Zanzibar
Getting a SIM card in Zanzibar is easy and cheap. The three providers worth using are Vodacom, Airtel and Yas.
Where to buy one
- Abeid Amani Karume Airport, on arrival
- Stone Town, at the official shops in Darajani and Mvurani
- Village shops in Paje, Jambiani, Nungwi and Kendwa
What it costs
A SIM card with a data bundle runs to roughly $20. Bundles are usually sold as 5GB, 9GB or 20GB, and the price varies by provider.
Bring your passport. Registration is done on the spot and takes about ten minutes.
Registration and your passport
Tanzanian law requires SIM cards to be registered to a passport, and registration is done on the spot with a fingerprint scan. Bring the physical passport, not a photograph of it. It takes about ten minutes.
Which network works where
Vodacom has the widest coverage across the island, including the east coast villages. Airtel is usually the cheapest for data and fine in the main tourist areas. Yas (formerly Tigo) sits between the two.
Coverage is good in Stone Town, Nungwi, Kendwa, Paje and Jambiani. It thins out inland and around the far south.
Topping up
Credit is sold in almost every village shop as a scratch card, and bundles are bought by dialling a short code the shopkeeper will show you. You do not need to return to an official store.
eSIM
If your phone supports eSIM, providers such as Airalo work in Tanzania and can be set up before you land. Convenient, though usually more expensive per gigabyte than a local SIM.
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