Diving
WORLD-CLASS DIVING DESTINATION
Scientists have confirmed that Mafia has some of the richest reefs in the World, with an unparalleled variety of hard and soft corals and diversity of tropical fish. We have dived on fabulous sites from Mafia to Kilwa offering shallow to deep reefs of immense beauty and richness, bommies, channels, walls and caves, drift and night dives. These are new sites and we have years of exploration still to do.
We are indebted to FRONTIER Tanzania for some of the information in the text which follows. Their report on the diving in Mafia – The Guide to the Diving of Mafia Island: an Unexplored Paradise.
Almost all Mafia’s best diving is at depths of less than 30m so it is a sport diver’s paradise. The reefs of the archipelago offer a staggeringly beautiful and varied display of marine life. The excellent condition and high diversity of the reefs stimulated the creation of Mafia Island Marine Park, Tanzania’s first marine park..
Examples of most kinds of tropical marine habitat occur here, including exposed fringing reefs, rock walls, soft coral and algae-dominated reefs. The diversity of animal and plant life is hard to match, with over 50 genera of corals and 400 species of fish so far identified; many more still await determination. There are excellent examples of giant table corals, delicate sea fans, whip corals, and huge stands of blue-tipped staghorn corals. Large predatory fish and turtles are common and surprisingly unaffected by approaching divers.
Kinasi Wall
This is a sheltered bank reef, moderately deep and steeply sloping from 8 to 21 metres. It runs south-east:north-west for approximately 800 m and is an excellent dive on a slack tide or with a slight incoming current. It is in superb condition and composed of many species of hard and soft corals and supports a great variety of shoaling and solitary fish and giant clams, seafans, large groupers, and Napolean wrasse; there are abundant reef and pelagic fish, and turtles (especially the hawksbill) are often seen. One of our most popular dive sites.
Chole Wall
Another bank reef that joins the Kinasi Wall but lying north-east:south-west, also about 800m long. A steep bank of coral descending to 15 m, usually with excellent visibility, and ending in coral rubble and sand. A panorama for the diver as there is a startlingly rich tapestry of corals enveloped in clouds of tiny fish, dominated by colourful damselfish and fusiliers; numerous butterflyfish and angelfish. Especially interesting for the many species of colourful nudibranchs and flatworms. This is an excellent night or introductory dive. A great dive full of interest.
Coral Gardens
A very large area of beautiful coral outcrops or “bommies”, lying in a wedge behind the Kinasi and Chole walls. The coral is very densely packed and continuous behind Kinasi wall; elsewhere the coral is separated by seagrass and sand patches. This is an excellent site for photography with a very high diversity of fish, colourful corals and anemones and the shallow water makes visibility excellent. This is a shallow water dive, often undertaken as the last phase of one of the wall dives. Excellent for snorkelers behind Kinasi Wall at low tide.
The Coral Patches
This site comprises three extensive and spectacular coral patches at 9 to 17 m that are separated by sand channels. The many species of coral are packed around the ancient Porites formations. There are a large number of dense shoals of fish, equalled only by Kinasi Pass. A peculiarity is the occurrence of large numbers of spotted garden eels, so named for their habit of living together in “gardens” in the sand around the coral.
The Pinnacle
The Pinnacle is a 12 m spire of ancient coral rock (7o57’005S/39o47’850E) lying in the inner Kinasi Pass, close to the last rock island. Maximum depth is 24m at the base of the spire. This is a spectacular dive for the unusual structure and the mixture of reef and pelagic fish in the channel. Home to a very large potato cod and a very large resident moray in a hole on the “whale-back” of rock that slopes off the western side of the stack and many giant batfish.
Kinasi Pass
After completing a tour of the Pinnacle the diver heads south-west to the side of the channel, the Kinasi Pass dive, rightfully famous as a stunning drift dive. The Pass has two walls, commencing with a deep 20-26 m shelving reef, then a shallower one at 6-15 m. The diver floats along a wall with small caverns and overhangs, with great shoals of juvenile and adult reef fish, barracuda and carangidae that sometimes block out the light, a vast array of corals, parrotfish, large groupers and pelagics coming and going with the tide. A fantastic dive.
Milimani Reef
Extremely picturesque with unusual coral formations through which the diver navigates. Spectacular layered coral peaks. This is followed by vast Porites formations that are dome-like, with many lionfish, glass fish and moray eels. From here it slopes away to 21 m with a wide variety of soft and hard corals. This site is good in all conditions as it is only slightly affected by currents; an excellent second dive.
Msumbiji
This site consists of a small primary reef with a variety of soft and hard corals on slopes and sheer walls down to 15 m. Away from the central formation are spires of coral that provide archways and overhangs for the diver to explore. Beautiful anemones of fluorescent red colour and rays (especially blue spotted) are common. This site is a good introductory dive but has unpredictable visibility conditions.
PHOTO GALLERY | DIVING IN MAFIA ISLAND
