Is Zanzibar Safe to Visit? What Happened and Where Things Stand

Zanzibar's safety reputation took a hit in late 2025, and it's a fair question to ask before you book. Here's the honest picture: what happened, how it affected Zanzibar specifically, and where official guidance stands right now.

What Actually Happened

Tanzania held a national election on October 29, 2025. It triggered the country's largest wave of unrest since independence, mass protests, a military deployment, and a communications blackout, concentrated almost entirely in Dar es Salaam and other mainland cities. It was a serious, deadly crisis, not a minor disturbance, and it made international headlines for weeks.

Zanzibar held its own election the same day. Unlike the mainland, the island stayed calm throughout, under a heavy but largely uneventful security presence. The disruption that defined those weeks on the mainland didn't extend to Zanzibar in the same way.

Where Things Stand Now

Almost a year on, day-to-day life and tourism in Zanzibar have continued as normal. But official government guidance hasn't fully caught up in the same way everywhere, and it's worth checking the current advice for your own country rather than assuming.

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has scaled its guidance back to normal for Zanzibar and most of Tanzania, its current advice only flags specific border regions near Mozambique and Burundi, nothing about the island itself.

The US State Department's advisory has not moved in the same way. As of our last check, Tanzania (which the advisory covers as a whole, including Zanzibar) remains at Level 3, "Reconsider Travel," a level it was raised to on October 31, 2025 and hasn't been downgraded from since, as far as we can confirm.

That's a real difference depending on where you're travelling from, and advisories change, so check the current guidance yourself before you book:

• UK travellers: [gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/tanzania](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/tanzania)
• US travellers: [travel.state.gov](https://travel.state.gov)

What This Means Practically

If you're planning a trip to Zanzibar today, the island itself is operating normally, hotels are open, flights are running, tourism has continued. The events of October 2025 were real and serious, but they were a mainland political crisis, not an ongoing situation specific to Zanzibar.

Standard travel precautions still apply, same as they would for a solo trip anywhere: stay aware of your surroundings, avoid isolated areas at night, use reputable transport, and dress modestly outside of beach areas out of respect for local custom.

Solo Travel Specifically

Solo travellers, including women travelling alone, visit Zanzibar regularly. The most commonly reported issue isn't safety in the serious sense, it's persistent attention from beach vendors and tour touts, particularly on the busier north coast. A firm, polite decline, repeated if needed, is the standard and effective response.

Zanzibar is a majority-Muslim region, and dress matters more here than in many beach destinations. Covering shoulders and knees away from the beach, especially in Stone Town and villages, goes a long way toward comfortable, respectful interactions.

As always, this isn't a substitute for checking official travel advice for your own nationality before you book, particularly given how differently that advice currently reads depending on where you're from.