Hi
I went to Tofo a few years ago and was so impressed that we returned last month as part of our honeymoon trip. Hope the following info is useful.
I'd second the recommendation for Tofo Scuba, they're an excellent outfit. John and Nikki discovered a lot of the sites and theyre the most experienced dive school in the area. Theyve got new boats, decent rental kit and really fun, friendly and knowledgeable staff.
For accommodation, it really depends what standards you have. If you're backpacking then Fatimas and Bamboozies are very cheap and will do the job (though I heard repeated stories about thefts and security problems at Fatimas). We stayed in Casa Barry which is very nice, located overlooking one end of the beach - they upgraded us to a seafront chalet and were really sweet to us all week - Casa Barry is more family orientated (mainly south africans who've driven up). They're also quite a few chalets/cottages that can be rented and there is a hotel (was called Marinhos but seems to be changing its neame to Tofo Mar) which has a prime location on the beachfront (though Im not sure how good it is). Barra Lodge is in the next bay along from Tofo. I understand its more of a distinct resort whereas Tofo is a village. Theres a similar place south of Tofo at Guinjata Bay. You should be aware there isn't really any 'luxury' accommodation in the area. Flamingo Bay near(ish) to Barra looks very nice in the photos luxury water bungalows on stilts. We spoke to a couple who said the rooms are lovely but they werent told that the main lodge had burnt down so they had to be bussed 5km to Barra for their meals!
As for food, Casa Barry has a good menu lots of fresh fish and good fillet steaks, theres a new french restaurant in the village which isnt bad, or Dinos bar (which is where the nightlife is as well). Of course, if youre self catering you can pick up fresh fish for the barbecue every day from the fishermen.
As for the diving, you should be aware of what you wont get in Tofo. There are no wrecks and its not a place to come if you want vast amounts of coral Some (eg Amazon) are very nice but this isnt the Red Sea. What you will get is plenty of big fish action. At Manta Reef it is pretty much guaranteed that youll see some mantas as they come into cleaning stations here. Make sure you listen to the dive schools advice on interacting with the mantas - Stay low and watch your buoyancy, keep as calm as possible and watch your breathing (The mantas dont mind little bubbles but can get spooked by big exhalations). Most importantly, do not chase them and do not stray onto the cleaning station as this will guarantee they disappear (or dont turn up in the first place!). On one dive at Manta Reef we spent 20 minutes with five huge mantas circling just centimetres above our heads which was an absolutely mind-blowing experience. Conversely, 2 days later when we arrived at the same cleaning station, another dive group was swimming all over the station trying to video them. Two mantas took one look and shot off into the blue, seriously annoying everyone else in the water at the time.
The other reason the area is famous is the number of Whalesharks that pass through. I think the main season is November to March but they get them year round so youve got a good chance of snorkelling with one we got to snorkel with a whale shark on two occasions on this last trip which was fantastic. When we were there we saw loads of humpback whales from the boat. Though we werent lucky enough to see one on a dive we did enjoy a number of dives with a whale chorus accompaniment. As Andy T mentioned the top site in the area are Manta Reef, Office, Amazon and Giants Castle these all tend to be the morning dives, and all can be fantastic. Pick and choose your afternoon dives as some are better than others.. Mikes Cupboard is a not very interesting OW training dive. Best, are those that go down towards Manta Reef as this is the area youre most likely to see Whale Sharks. Simonstown is a pretty site, and I really enjoyed Chamber of Secrets which had loads of interesting stuff and nice topography oh, and the 50+ Devil rays werent bad either!
From a diving point of view Id also recommend staying at Tofo because of its location. At Barra youre a long way from southern sites such as Manta Reef, whilst at Guinjata youre a long way from Office and Amazon.
We flew into Inhambane from Lanseria airport (in Joburg). (You cant fly from Joburg International). Lanseria is a small airport from where a number of charter companies operate out of. Its easily accessible from the centre of Joburg. However, you should be aware that Charlan Air (who flew the route) went out of business whilst we were in Tofo. Fortunately another charter company ran two last planes to get us back. Apparently the Inhambane route was profitable and other companies want to take it over, but there seems to be ongoing discussions between Mozambique and South Africa about rights to use the route. You should ask Tofo Scuba what the current situation is. On the way back we had to fly down to Maputo to go through immigration control before heading onto Lanseria. The flight was about £220 return.
It is a long drive up from Joburg but do-able. (From memory its about 16 hours from Joburg.) The Mozambique police do have a reputation for pulling cars over, particularly cars with South African plates. This is normally for speeding (radar guns seem to be standard issue to every policeman) so be aware of the speed limits (their definition of built up areas is not what yours or mine is). Personally, I would not recommend getting into a bribe situation unless you really know what youre doing and have fluent Portuguese to talk yourself out of any problems. You can get yourself into far worse trouble going down the bribe route. If you are fined always ask for a receipt if theyre legit they will give you one. Considering what a bargain Mozambique is Id just incorporate a couple of potential fines into your planned budget. If youre not stopped you have some beer money to celebrate with back home, if you are, you have a police run in story you can elaborate to impress your friends back home.
The advice about anti-malarials shouldnt be ignored. Theres a lot of talk about the side effects of these drugs but full-blown malaria is much nastier. You need either Larium, Doxycycline or Malarone. Malarone is the best with very few side effects but its very expensive. The first time I went to Mozambique I took Dox and sunburnt really badly, but my wife had no problems at all. This time I took Larium. Ive taken this before with no problems (other than very vivid, bizarre dreams). Theres load of advice on anti-malarials on this forum but if you do go for Larium Id take them for a couple of weeks before you leave so you can see if you do have any of the nastier reactions. Whatever you do, do take some form of anti-malarials.
As for package deals, I booked the flight through Tofo Scuba and accommodation through Casa Barry over email. No problems at all. Moz Connection do organise group trips up from SA if you want to go that way but I dont think you need to.
Mozambique is a fantastic country and the diving is top notch. You will love it
Andrew
