How to cross the border from Kenya to Tanzania

— This post is updated in 2024 based on our most recent travels in Kenya and Tanzania. This guide is from the perspective of going from Kenya to Tanzania. If you’re going in the opposite direction (as we were the last time) it’s basically the same procedure in reverse. —

If you’re somewhere on the southern Kenyan coast heading towards Tanzania, you don’t have to backtrack to Mombasa to fly or take a really long bus trip all the way to Dar es Salaam. You can just travel by public transport down the coast, stringing a few lazy days in some coastal towns together, until you reach the border.

There are five land border-crossings between Kenya and Tanzania: this post is about the one I used by the coast, near Lunga Lunga. This brings you into Tanzania near Tanga, on the way to Dar es Salaam.

Anyway, you’re on Swahili-time now: pole pole, as they say (slowly slowly).

Before You Go

Most nationalities need a visa for Tanzania. You can get it very easily on arrival at the border: you’ll need to fill out a few forms and it costs 50 USD. Bring your Yellow Fever vaccination certificate.

There are plenty of unofficial money-changers hanging around at the border: know the rate before you exchange. There is also an ATM and an official money-changing office immediately outside Tanzanian immigration. Weirdly enough the office doesn’t change Kenyan shillings, so you’re back to needing the ATM or changing whatever Kenyan money you’ve got left with the guys at the gates on the way out.

The Route

You can get from anywhere along the short southern coast of Kenya (below Mombasa) to Tanga (Tanzania) comfortably in less than a day, stringing the trip together by public transport. I got to Tanga from Wasini Island in an easygoing five hours; coming from Diani Beach would add an hour. Remember, all times are approximate and you may have to wait occasionally for a vehicle to fill up.

So, to sum it up (I want to do this because of all the delightful words involved): you take a matatu to Lunga Lunga, from where you take a boda-boda to the border. You process the border and then you’re in Horo Horo, from where you take a daladala to Tanga. Too easy.

Diani Beach/Wasini to Lunga Lunga

If you’re coming from Diani Beach, get a matatu to Lunga Lunga from the stage in Ukunda near the post office. It should take less than two hours.

If you’re coming from Wasini Island, get your boat back to Shimoni pier by about 9 in the morning. From the pier, you can find a boda-boda to take you the last fifteen kilometers out to the Shimoni junction. There you’ll need to wait for a matatu passing by to Lunga Lunga. Not counting any waiting time, the whole thing should take a little less than an hour and a half.

It may be possible to flag down a Mombasa-Tanga bus, in Ukunda or on the main road at Shimoni junction. You’d need to be waiting for it pretty early in the morning and catching it might require some luck (or a timetable, I haven’t looked for one).

Lunga Lunga to the Border

The matatus stop in Lunga Lunga, about six kilometers from Immigration. Get yourself a boda-boda from the station for about 150 KSh. There are plenty around.

Checking out of Kenya is quick. Head over to Tanzanian immigration in the same compound. Despite me being the only foreign person crossing at the time, it took about an hour to get the visa and the passport stamp. I needed to fill out some forms and pay in the office first and then queue at the regular window with the receipt and my passport.

The Border to Tanga

Exit the buildings and the gate out to the street, and you’re in Horo Horo (Tanzania). Right there with all the market stalls you’ll see the buses and daladalas (as matatus are called here). It’s easy to find one going to Tanga, and it should cost about 3000 TZS shillings. I waited around thirty minutes for it to fill up and leave.

It took a little more than two hours for the sixty kilometer trip, with a ton of pointless stopping and messing around. At the station in Tanga you can grab a boda-boda to a hotel.

Onward Travel: Tanga to Dar es Salaam

You should stay the night in Tanga since carrying on to Dar the same day will take another five to six hours and buses generally leave in the morning. Plenty of buses go from the Pangani Road station to Dar: get an early start. The buses are lined up at platforms and the ticketing offices are all across the road.

You can find more information about travelling down the coast in Tanzania right here.

And there you have it: Tanzania. Karibu!

Read More

For more about travelling in these two countries and things to see and do while you’re at it, check out my stories from Kenya and Tanzania.

And these two posts should help if you’re looking for inspiration or ideas about travelling along the coast of Kenya or Tanzania:

Traveling the Kenyan Coast: Inspiration from North to South
Traveling the Tanzanian Coast: by Road from North to South