The Indian Ocean off Africa's tropical coast has an incredible variety and quality of marine life. There are manta rays and whale sharks, five species of turtle, over 400 species of fish, endless tropical coral reefs and even the odd, shy dugong. In short, the islands off Mozambique and Tanzania offer world-class diving and snorkelling, but so far only to tiny numbers of people.

There are sites for a few day's diving and/or snorkelling within reach of most of Zanzibar although the area's best snorkelling, and some of its best dive sites, are on the reef surrounding Mnemba Island – adding yet another reason to stay at the exclusive Mnemba Island Lodge.

On the other side of Zanzibar, the guided snorkelling trips from Chumbe Island are hard to beat for the sheer variety of colourful coral and smaller marine life.

The sheltered Chole Bay within, Mafia Archipelago's marine park makes a superb place to snorkel and to learn to dive, whilst more experienced divers come back here for spectacular wall dives outside the bay, featuring larger fish including the occasional shark. Further north, Pemba Island also has some first-class reefs with excellent snorkelling and shallow dives, whilst its deeper sites attract more experienced divers who are confident with strong currents.

For pristine reefs, seek out the more remote corners of Mozambique's Bazaruto and, especially, Quirimbas archipelagos. Here guests will sometimes even discover new dive sites for themselves, and the reefs are often completely untouched.

South African waters aren't so tropical, but this is one of the few places in the world where you can cage-dive with great white sharks. There is also some good wreck diving and fast drift diving in .

For something completely different, the freshwater Lake Malawi has a rocky underwater environment which is home to over 500 species of brightly-coloured (often endemic) cichlids and otters, which like to play with divers' bubbles!

For some of our favourite ideas - use the search box on the right. Better still, call our experts now on +44(0)20 8232 9777 and ask us!


Diving & snorkelling in Africa | Diving & snorkelling in Malawi | Diving & snorkelling in Mozambique | Diving & snorkelling in Seychelles | Diving & snorkelling in Tanzania | Diving & snorkelling in Zanzibar


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