Zanzibar all inclusive resorts

Book an all inclusive on the resort strip

Is all inclusive worth it in Zanzibar?

It depends on the coast, more than on the resort. Zanzibar has two very different kinds of beach, and the plan makes sense on one of them.

When it pays

• You are on the east coast resort strip. Around Kiwengwa and Pwani Mchangani there is almost nothing to eat outside the hotels. Room only means eating at resort prices anyway, plus a taxi for anything else.
• The tide is going to take your afternoon. On this coast the lagoon empties for hours every day. The resort pool, bar and loungers fill that gap, and you have already paid for them. How the tide works is worth ten minutes before you book.
• You are travelling with children. Buffets settle every mealtime argument, and the kids' clubs on the island sit almost entirely inside these resorts. See where to stay with kids.
• You drink. A beer is $6 to $8 at a resort bar. Two people with a few drinks a day close most of the gap on their own.

When it is a trap

• You are in Nungwi or Kendwa. Beach restaurants line the sand, grilled fish costs a fraction of the buffet, and the sunset is the same from every table. Every dinner out on an all inclusive plan is a meal you pay for twice.
• You came for the island. Stone Town, a spice farm, Jozani, a different restaurant every night. If you plan to leave the hotel most days, the plan loses money.
• You are a couple on the south east. Paje and Jambiani are village coasts with good cheap food. All inclusive there buys you less than anywhere else.

All inclusive or room only: run your own numbers

Pick the coast, the length of the stay and the number of evenings you expect to eat outside the hotel. That last number decides most of it.

The all inclusive resorts, coast by coast

Every resort below sells an all inclusive plan, checked against its own site or its listings in September 2026. Room counts are the hotel's. Filter for adults only or for a kids' club.

What all inclusive never includes

The checkout bill on an all inclusive week in Zanzibar is almost never zero. These are the lines that appear on it.

Alcohol, and Ramadan

Alcohol is legal for visitors and every resort serves it. The plan covers local beer such as Kilimanjaro, Safari and Serengeti, house wine and local spirits. A beer costs $2 to $3 in a village bar outside.

During Ramadan, sales stop outside tourist hotels, restaurants outside hotels close in daylight, and resorts serve food and drink only to their own guests. For an all inclusive guest the holiday barely changes. For someone planning to eat out, it changes a lot.

Adults only or a family resort

Adults only all inclusive barely exists on Zanzibar. Among the resorts above there are two: Riu Palace Swahili at Nungwi, a 505 room resort opened in 2025, and The Palms at Bwejuu, seven villas for sixteen and over. They could hardly be more different.

A lot of what you read online still lists Riu Palace Zanzibar as adults only. It has taken families since November 2025. For a quiet stay without children, the smaller hotels in our honeymoon guide usually beat an all inclusive, with half board and dinners out.

Families are the core market. Kids' clubs are at Meliá, Diamonds Mapenzi, TUI BLUE Bahari, Neptune Pwani, Riu Jambo, Riu Palace Zanzibar and Royal Zanzibar. Check the age at which children pay the adult rate: twelve at Diamonds Mapenzi, thirteen at Neptune Pwani.

Families who want all day swimming should take the north: Riu Jambo or Riu Palace Zanzibar at Nungwi. On the east coast, the pool does that job.

What all inclusive costs in Zanzibar

Price per person per night, sharing a double, on the all inclusive plan. These are ranges seen on booking sites, not quotes. High season is July to October and mid December to early January.

Add the visa, the ZIC insurance and the levy before comparing with anywhere else. The full weekly picture is in what a week in Zanzibar costs.

Compare rooms on the northern tip

A package with flights, or booking separately

From the UK, a package is usually the simplest way in. Tour operators such as TUI sell the east coast resorts, TUI BLUE Bahari among them, with the flight and transfer included, and a UK package holiday carries ATOL protection.

From the US there is no direct flight and packages are rarer. Booking the resort and the flights separately gives more choice of coast, and the transfer is easy to arrange.

Check what a package does not include: the visa, the ZIC insurance and the infrastructure levy are paid by you, not the tour operator.

The best months for an all inclusive

June to October is dry, cooler and the most expensive. January and February are hot, calm and a little cheaper, and they are the peak for British families at half term.

April and May bring the long rains and the lowest prices of the year. Check that the resort is open, because some smaller hotels close for part of that season. The trade offs month by month are in when to go.

Questions people ask