Is Zanzibar Good for Digital Nomads? An Honest Guide to Working Remotely from the Island
When people ask me if Zanzibar is good for digital nomads, I never just say yes or no. The honest answer is more nuanced than that, and I think anyone considering working remotely from the island deserves the full picture before they buy a flight.
The honest answer: Zanzibar is not Thailand
Which basically means it is not a place that was originally built for remote work or for digital nomads hopping from café to café.
But this is important. It is developing.
You can clearly see that tourism is changing the island. More people from Western countries are coming in, opening cafés where you can work, building small coworking spaces and creating little pockets where remote work is actually possible. If you read my piece on the unspoken side of digital nomad life, this is the same kind of honesty applied to one specific place.
So yes, Zanzibar is moving in that direction. But it is still at the beginning.
You are not arriving to perfect WiFi, stable electricity and a fully built digital nomad ecosystem. That is just not the reality here, and I think it is important to be honest about that.
The challenges of working remotely in Zanzibar
If you go to Zanzibar to work as a digital nomad, there are a few things you will have to deal with. Not in a dramatic way, but they are real and they will influence your daily rhythm.
1. Power cuts are a thing
One of the biggest challenges is electricity.
It can happen that the power goes out multiple times a day, but most often in the evening or at night. Sometimes it stays off for several hours.
That is obviously not ideal, because evenings are usually when you still want to get things done or when calls with other time zones happen.
It does not happen every single day, but often enough that you need to be prepared and you cannot pretend it does not exist.
2. Internet is not always reliable
If you stay a bit more remote, the internet can be unstable.
There is good internet on Zanzibar, but not everywhere and not consistently. Your personal setup and your choice of area matter a lot here.
Places like Paje, parts of Stone Town and some guesthouses with fiber internet are fine for remote work. Others will drive you crazy if you try to work full time from there.
3. Infrastructure is still growing
Coworking spaces and work friendly cafés exist, but you have to look for them.
In Paje, Stone Town or Nungwi you will definitely see people working on their laptops. There are a few cafés and hostels that clearly cater to remote workers.
But it is not like Bali, Berlin or Lisbon where you cannot walk ten minutes without passing a coworking space. Zanzibar is, first and foremost, a vacation and honeymoon destination.
People come here to relax. Not to grind. And you feel that.
4. Getting around and negotiating prices
Getting from A to B really depends on you.
If you are more adventurous, you can take the local dala dala. If you prefer comfort, you can get a private driver or use pre arranged transfers.
I personally use private drivers for longer distances. It is more expensive than local transport, but you save a lot of mental energy and time.
Negotiating is also a real skill here. Many digital nomads do not really have it, but in Zanzibar you will need it, similar to many places in Africa and parts of Asia.
I always say it is okay to pay more than a local. It is not okay to pay three to five times more all the time. That just pushes prices up for everyone long term and changes the island in a way that does not feel good for locals or visitors.
5. Tides actually affect your day more than you think
Low tide and high tide affect your daily life more than you would expect.
Depending on where you are, the ocean can move really far back. During low tide the beach looks completely different than during high tide.
That changes your rhythm, your plans and even your energy throughout the day. You might walk much further to swim, you might plan your beach walks around the tide or you might realise that your morning swim window is actually very specific.
If you come here as a digital nomad, it is helpful to understand that nature sets part of your schedule.
How to make Zanzibar actually work for you as a digital nomad
The difference is not whether challenges exist. The difference is whether you are prepared.
For me, preparation is everything if you want to work remotely in Zanzibar without constant stress.
Solve the electricity problem
Before coming, I got a strong power bank that can charge my laptop for around ten to twelve hours.
That alone removed most of the stress around power cuts. Whenever electricity went out, I just kept working. No panic, no drama, just a slightly different light in the room.
In our goldenweeks digital nomad retreat in Zanzibar, we add another layer to this. We choose a location with power backup and a setup that is designed for deep work, not just for holiday pictures. So even if the grid goes down, your work does not have to.
Fix your internet setup
I highly recommend getting a local SIM card.
Go directly to official providers like Yas or Vodacom, not random resellers on the street. That way, the SIM is registered to you and you avoid unnecessary issues.
I also got a small router, which made a big difference compared to using my phone as a hotspot. It is simply more stable. For a lot of remote workers, 25 to 30 GB per month is enough, and data packages cost roughly around ten to twelve Euro, depending on the offer. Topping up is easy through the app.
At goldenweeks we help every participant get a SIM on arrival so you have an internet backup from day one and do not lose half a day figuring it out.
Find your spots and enjoy the process
You will explore a little until you find your favourite places to work.
Maybe you try a few cafés, spend some days in a coworking space, work from your guesthouse terrace or move closer to the beach once you know your rhythm.
It is not as plug and play as in the classic digital nomad hubs, but that also means you are not dropped into a copy paste nomad bubble. You choose more consciously where you go, who you spend time with and how you design your remote work days. The people you meet here often feel a little more all in, because it takes intention to come to Zanzibar and to set up a life that actually works for you.
Who Zanzibar is actually for as a digital nomad
Zanzibar is not for every digital nomad.
If you need perfect infrastructure, fast internet 24 hours a day and maximum efficiency, you will probably get frustrated here. There are better places for that.
But if you are someone who can adapt a little, who does not need everything to be perfect and who actually wants to experience a place while working, then Zanzibar can be incredibly powerful.
It pulls you out of that tunnel where you are just working all the time. There is a certain lightness on the island. The ocean, the air, the pace of life, the call to prayer, kids playing on the beach, it all reminds you that life is bigger than your to do list.
For many people, that is exactly what they need in order to finally change something. That is also why I chose Zanzibar as the home for the goldenweeks accountability retreat. It slows you down just enough to finally look at your projects honestly and then actually move them forward.
Final thoughts: it is not perfect and that is the point
Zanzibar is not perfect for digital nomads.
But that is also what makes it interesting.
You are not just relocating your normal life to a new place. You do not just sit in another pretty café with the same habits. You actually have to adjust to the island, to the tides, to the infrastructure, to the way things move here.
And that is where growth happens. In the small adaptations, in the moments where you choose patience over frustration and intention over autopilot.
If you come prepared and you choose the right base, Zanzibar can give you exactly the mix of focus and softness that so many remote workers quietly crave.
Got questions about working remotely from Zanzibar?
If you are not sure whether Zanzibar is the right place for you, or you have specific questions like:
- What is the weather really like throughout the year?
- Are there actually digital nomads on the island?
- Where do people usually stay and for how long?
- How does the visa situation work right now?
- How do you set yourself up so things actually run smoothly when you work remotely?
You can always reach out to me directly.
I have also created a digital nomad community for Zanzibar, where we already have a group of people, many of them either currently on the island or with real experience here.
So you do not just get my perspective. You can connect with others, ask questions and get real time insights about WiFi, housing, good cafés, safety, visas and everything that comes up when you actually live and work here.
In the end, that is what makes the biggest difference. Not just having information, but having the right people around you.
Lakisha