Tanga - Clearance
This is a Port of Entry.
See the main noonsite/Tanzania/Formalities page for full details of clearance.
International Clearance:
This is usually the first port of entry into Tanzania if coming from the north, and a popular place to obtain clearance. Smaller than Dar es Salaam, the offices are closer together and the officials less busy.
Contact the Yacht Club in advance with your ETA, they can arrange Port Health and Immigration.
- Tel: +255 683 551 196
- Email: tangayacht@gmail.com
Tanga Signal Station maintains a 24-hour watch. On entering Tanga Bay contact Tanga Signal on channel VHF 12 or 16 (although you may not get an answer).
Having anchored up off the Yacht Club you will need to wait on board to be cleared by Port Health. They will row out to the boat for a quick check.
Immigration is located in the centre of Tanga town, close to the post office. Hours are from 0800 hrs to 1600 hrs, Monday through Friday, closed Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Often they will come to the Yacht Club bar to meet you. For Immigration, you will need a valid passport. Visas can be obtained from Immigration for a fee. Fee structure depends on your nationality.
Customs formalities are completed at the office which is through the port gates and is the first building on your right (you will see the back of the building as you walk towards the gates). Go through the entrance and the office is the first on your left. They are open between 0800 hrs until 1600 hrs, five days a week. You will need Clearance Papers from your last country of departure and a crew list for Customs.
If you want to cruise between ports in Tanzania, it’s best to get a Transire on departure from Tanga. See Tanzania/Formalities for details.
Domestic Clearance:
If you have already checked into Tanzania, a Transire from your last Tanzanian port is all that is required by Customs. If you have already cleared into Tanzania, checking in with Immigration is not required.
Last updated: August 2023
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Tanga is a great place to leave the boat and head inland for Safari or to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. The yacht club is friendly with tasty Indian food and pizza on offer and has a pool table and free wifi. It’s 40,000 per week for the boat (100,000 per month) and some more for the crew. You can pay by credit card, m-pesa & cash. The anchorage has decent holding in mud and there is a swimming club so always people swimming in the bay. There are a couple of supermarkets in town and fresh fruit and veg markets as well. People are friendly and welcoming and it was a pleasure to look around the markets without being pressured to buy like you are in Arusha or Stone Town.
Forgot to mention, Health and Immigration came out to meet us but we had already checked in so they wanted to check our passport and the health person still wanted to do a health check and charge 10,000TSH which is a bit silly as we’d already been in country for 3 weeks at this point. So if you have already checked in, don’t radio ahead just arrive and anchor up. Head to the port to do your transire and thats all you need to do. The customs TRA office is through the port gates and the first building on the right (you see the back of the building as you walk towards the gates). Go through the entrance and its the first office on your left.
Reported by Jack Hunt of by Barbara Ann:
Tanga yacht club has a weekly club fee of 40,000 TSH, which is a little less than 20$.
The bar does not accept cash but coupons valued at 10,000 TSH can be purchased to buy drinks, which are reasonably priced, a beer costing 1,500 TSH, a little less than 1$.
There is a bus stop about 500m from the yacht club where shuttle buses into town (2-3km) can be caught for 200 TSH. The better option when returning from town is to take a bejaji (tuk-tuk) costing 2,000 TSH.
What is the rate for a day membership to TYC?
Hi Vince, the yacht club has a sliding scale – boat and skipper is approx TZS 20,000 (~$8) a day, 40,000 (~$18) a week and TZS 100,000 (~$40) a month … plus a bit for extra crew. More details on their website – https://tanga-yacht-club.or.tz/about-old/. Do send us feedback when you visit please.