mauritius or mozambique

[zaf88]

trying desperatly to close up my honeymoon plans. doing a safari in kruger in may and then wanted to do a week in diving somewhere not too far away. was thinking of mauritius or mozambique, which has bettter diving? is there someplace i have missed that would be better?

 

[Jan Kruger]

Mozambique is right next to the Kruger national park- will be much cheaper than Mauritius and the diving will be excellent at places like Inhambane or Ponta du Ouro- I haven't been to Mauritius but i would probably rather dive in Mozambique-Friendly locals,beautiful underwater scenes with lots of fish and excellent weather !
Enjoy diving here !

 

[Jan Kruger]

Forgot to inform you about a very reputable local dive operator that will be more than capable of seting up a trip for you- Scubascene with camps every where and contacts galore !

 

[zaf88]

Ponta du Ouro looks amazing , how is traveling there? any upscale hotels?

 

[Deefstes]

Depends on your definition of "upscale hotels". No there is no Hilton or Sheraton but it would kill me to stay in such a place on a diving trip anyway. Mozambique essentially divides into three main diving areas;

1. Southern Mozambique which Jan Kruger refers to and which is just a chip and a putt from the Kruger National Park. I'll say a little something more about this area in a while.

2. South Central Mozambique is a hard drive, or a flight away but has awesome diving. Here I'm referring to Inhambane, Pomene, Vilanculos, Bazaruto islands etc.

3. Northern Mozambique (the Querimba archipelago) is very far and requires two flights (one to Pemba and another chartered flight to one of the islands). I don't know a great deal about diving there but I understand that places like Vamizi Island are probably as upscale as you are likely to find in Mozambique (with a price tag to match).

For the moment, let's return to Southern Mozambique. There are basically three places where one could go diving. They're all within easy reach of the South African border but would require some 4x4 or high ground clearance driving through soft sand. Most of the operators offer some sort of shuttle service anyway so it's really easily accessible.

1. Ponta do Ouro is town at the very southern tip of Mozambique. It's a very popular destination for South African divers but personally I'm not mad about it. Don't get me wrong, the diving is awesome but it's a very bustling place and sometimes just too crowded for my liking. Like I say, it's a town, not a lodge or resort. There are a number of lodges or dive camps and two that I can quickly think of are;
Simply Scuba
Devocean Diving

2. Ponta Malongane is a little bit further north and I prefer it over Ponta do Ouro by far. It is not a town but a fairly large resort with a dive camp. There are all sorts of types of accommodation, ranging from camping to chalets, none of which are particularly luxurious but most of it quite sufficient. It can also get rather busy but not quite as hectic as Ponta do Ouro.

3. Ponta Mamoli is another resort that's a little bit further north still. I've been there to see what it looks like but never stayed or dived there. It is lovely though and, if you're looking for something upscale and willing to pay a little more, I can't imagine that you'd be able to do better than Ponta Mamoli. The fact that it is more expensive and more exclusive means that it is less of a circus than the other two and I should think it must be the perfect place to spend a honeymoon (or part thereof).

Let me know if you have any more questions or if you want to know more about South Central Mozambique as that's a whole different chapter altogether and would've made this posting too long.

 

[zaf88]

Depends on your definition of "upscale hotels". No there is no Hilton or Sheraton but it would kill me to stay in such a place on a diving trip anyway. Mozambique essentially divides into three main diving areas;

1. Southern Mozambique which Jan Kruger refers to and which is just a chip and a putt from the Kruger National Park. I'll say a little something more about this area in a while.

2. South Central Mozambique is a hard drive, or a flight away but has awesome diving. Here I'm referring to Inhambane, Pomene, Vilanculos, Bazaruto islands etc.

3. Northern Mozambique (the Querimba archipelago) is very far and requires two flights (one to Pemba and another chartered flight to one of the islands). I don't know a great deal about diving there but I understand that places like Vamizi Island are probably as upscale as you are likely to find in Mozambique (with a price tag to match).

For the moment, let's return to Southern Mozambique. There are basically three places where one could go diving. They're all within easy reach of the South African border but would require some 4x4 or high ground clearance driving through soft sand. Most of the operators offer some sort of shuttle service anyway so it's really easily accessible.

1. Ponta do Ouro is town at the very southern tip of Mozambique. It's a very popular destination for South African divers but personally I'm not mad about it. Don't get me wrong, the diving is awesome but it's a very bustling place and sometimes just too crowded for my liking. Like I say, it's a town, not a lodge or resort. There are a number of lodges or dive camps and two that I can quickly think of are;
Simply Scuba
Devocean Diving

2. Ponta Malongane is a little bit further north and I prefer it over Ponta do Ouro by far. It is not a town but a fairly large resort with a dive camp. There are all sorts of types of accommodation, ranging from camping to chalets, none of which are particularly luxurious but most of it quite sufficient. It can also get rather busy but not quite as hectic as Ponta do Ouro.

3. Ponta Mamoli is another resort that's a little bit further north still. I've been there to see what it looks like but never stayed or dived there. It is lovely though and, if you're looking for something upscale and willing to pay a little more, I can't imagine that you'd be able to do better than Ponta Mamoli. The fact that it is more expensive and more exclusive means that it is less of a circus than the other two and I should think it must be the perfect place to spend a honeymoon (or part thereof).

Let me know if you have any more questions or if you want to know more about South Central Mozambique as that's a whole different chapter altogether and would've made this posting too long.

thank u so much for the run down. i guess i will work on indigo bay still. but its just so expensive im not sure its worth the money

 

[texswamper]

I'll just throw in my two cents. We went to the Quirimbas in Nov. 2009 and stayed at both Matemo Island and Medjumbe Island. They are sister properties of Indigo Bay but located in the north. They were both luxury at it's best in Mozambique and we loved them both. The diving at Medjumbe was better and the dive sites closer. We were the only 2 divers for the entire week we were there. The food was 5* and service very good, so in my opinion it was well worth the money. I love diving, but I enjoy luxury accommodation as well.

We now have a week dive trip scheduled in May and will be staying at Azura on Benguerra Island. It was between there and Flamingo Bay in Inhambane. I've had a friend stay at Azura, so I know that it will be "ultra luxury" with a price tag to match.

Another expat just returned from Indigo Bay and they enjoyed the property and said the diving was very good. Indigo Bay was just a bigger property than I was interested in. Just thought I'd share my experience to give you something else to go on.

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding and enjoy the honeymoon!

 

[Deefstes]

thank u so much for the run down. i guess i will work on indigo bay still. but its just so expensive im not sure its worth the money

Oh, in that case you can safely disregard everything I wrote above. None of the places I mentioned can rival Indigo Bay Have fun!

 

[zaf88]

all of your info was valuable. i did look at azura as well looks very nice. how do you guys deal with the low luggage allowance? do u bring your own gear, and are yoke valves common there?

 

[texswamper]

all of your info was valuable. i did look at azura as well looks very nice. how do you guys deal with the low luggage allowance? do u bring your own gear, and are yoke valves common there?

We only take our regulators, masks, snorkels and wetsuits. At Medjumbe the DM added an octo since we have Air2 on our bcs and changed a few things to make it work with their tanks. I know it was different connections than we use in the US.

For a week of diving you don't need a lot of clothes and the same is true on safari. All the safari places we stayed at have free laundry and Azura does as well. That helps keep the weight down. Azura's helicopter xfer allows 20 kg as well as our flight from Joburg. It can be done.

I believe that Azura is offering a special for honeymoon couples. If you don't already have a travel agent, PM me and I'll send you a link for someone based in Cape Town that we've used for all of our trips.