Marine life
Zanzibar or Ungula Island is a long strip of land 40 kilometers off the coast of Tanzania. This paradise island owes its exoticism to its endlessly white sandy beaches, its lagoons with turquoise waters, its lush tropical vegetation, its spice plantations and its atypical villages. Zanzibar is a true immersion in a culture tinted of Africa, Great Britain, Arabia and India. This spicy and exotic destination will also fill the divers we are. Organizing a diving trip to Zanzibar is a guarantee of diving on beautiful and especially uncrowded coral reefs. There are two main diving areas around the island.
Where to dive in Zanzibar?
North part of the island
The northern part concentrates the majority of the most popular sites of the island. The reef of Ras Nungwi will one of the most famous. Around Ras Nungwy, you will dive on splendid drop off like “Level Bank” and wonderful coral reefs such as Kichafi. This reef shelters a very varied fauna and a flora. White tip sharks, sea turtles, rays, napoleons and large grouper are also found here. The most popular spots for your diving holidays are: Aquarium, Small Wall and Kokota. Around the Mnemba Atoll there are several extraordinary dive sites, the most beautiful will be Kichwani, Big Wall and Wattabomi. You won’t be bored, you can alternate between drift dive, cave dive and reef exploration.
South part of the island
In the South, diving spots are less numerous and less well known to divers. The uncrowded reefs, allow divers to enjoy privileged experiences. The diving spots around Kizimkazi are mostly big walls and coral reefs rich in life. The dive sites of “Groupers Grotto”, “Dolphin Wall” and “Hammerhead” are our favorite on that side, if you are lucky you will encounter many pelagic fish.
When to go diving in Zanzibar?
The best time for a dive trip is from November to March which corresponds to the dry season.
The rainy season is from March to May and it will better to avoid it.
The best months for whale watching are August, September and March.
Plan your dive holiday during the dry season in order to have the chance to spot gray sharks and hammerhead sharks.
Diving conditions
The visibility varies from 15 to 30m depending on th season. It could go up to 40 meters around Mnemba Atoll.
Underwater current can be super powerful. Ask your dive center to bring you there if you want to enjoy drift diving.
Difficulty : everyone will enjoy the diving, from beginners to advanced divers.
Water temperature won’t varies and stay around 27°c.
What to see while diving?
A dive on the archipelago will give you the opportunity to cross many fish and marine mammals. If you are the lucky one, you will scuba dive with whales or dolphins. During the migration of whale sharks and manta rays you will have the chance to get close to those wonderful animals, but it’s quite rare. On the other hand, you will have much more chance to dive with white tips and black tips sharks, gray sharks and even hammerhead sharks. Finally, diving in Zanzibar allows us to discover a rich range of what the Indian Ocean can offer to us: sea turtles, spotted rays and leopard rays, eagle rays, napoleons, groupers, barracudas, trevallies, tunas, morays and nudibranchs. The seabed consists essentially of superb hard corals, with an extraordinary profusion of gorgonians.
