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TANZANIA: Superb East African diving

  • TANZANIA: Superb East African diving
  • TANZANIA: Superb East African diving
  • TANZANIA: Superb East African diving
  • TANZANIA: Superb East African diving
  • TANZANIA: Superb East African diving
  • TANZANIA: Superb East African diving
TANZANIA
 
Tanzania is a beautiful country, which offers tourists a chance to encounter some of the most wonderful landscapes, impressive animals and friendly people in Africa. The imposing landmark of Mount Kilimanjaro, the continent’s highest mountain, is climbed by over 25,000 people every year. The Ngorongoro Crater, the Selous game reserve and the migration of the wildebeest through the Serengeti plains are all excellent reasons to visit Tanzania. However, in addition to the incredible sightseeing opportunities on land, Tanzania and its islands are also good destinations for a diving holiday. Set on the Indian Ocean, this East African gem enjoys many dive sites with beautiful clear turquoise waters, colourful reefs and tropical fish. The exotic islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia all have a good selection of contrasting dive sites. Zanzibar has great corals, fantastic wall diving and diverse marine life, and also offers divers the opportunity to see big pelagic species, including humpback whales and whale sharks. Pemba Island is one of the best diving locations in East Africa, with spectacular wall diving and big marine life. Mafia Island has protected marine park status to conserve the 400 species of fish and vibrant corals which are found there. It is possible to dive all year round in Tanzania, however visibility can be limited during the rainy season, so the best diving opportunities are found from July to October and from December to March.
 
 
Tanzania Highlights
 
 
Lying 50 kilometres east of the mainland, Pemba Island is a little piece of heaven is in the Indian Ocean. A lush green paradise, with pristine palm-fringed beaches, fine white sand and colourful coral reefs, this idyllic diving destination is the gem of the East African coastline. Since the island is so secluded, mass tourism has stayed away, meaning that the diving here is uncrowded, unspoilt and exciting. The island stands alone, and is separated from the African continental shelf by sheer coral walls dropping down to 300 metres. This has allowed for fantastic wall diving, and large species of marine life. The island has a diverse range of diving styles to choose from. The eastern side is exposed to the open ocean, and therefore can have rough conditions and strong currents. The area commonly attracts sharks, including hammerheads. There is also some fantastic drift diving on this side of the island. The Western side of Pemba has shallow walls, sloping reefs and an exciting range of underwater creatures for divers to encounter, including barracuda, unicorn fish, turtles and manta rays. Pemba Island is probably the best place to dive in East Africa.
 
Zanzibar is known as ‘The Spice Island’, and is an excellent place to base yourself for a diving holiday in Tanzania. The island is encircled by coral reefs, which descend in a series of shelves down to the sea bed. The reefs can appear to be barren at first glance, but they have caverns and sudden outcrops which are home to all sorts of interesting marine creatures. Mnemba island is part of Zanzibar, and has many top dive sites to explore. The Mnemba Atoll, to the North of the island is the best area to dive in Zanzibar. The marine life here is wide ranging, from tiny invertebrates to larger animals such as sea turtles. The world’s largest nudibranch, the Djibouti Spanish Dancer is often seen off the coast of Mnemba.
 
Mafia Island is world renowned for its diving, thanks to the rich reefs, abundance of hard and soft corals and diversity of tropical fish. The island is popular for wall diving, cave diving, drift diving and night diving. The prime time to visit Mafia Island is during the Whale Shark migration which takes place from November to January.