Seychelles VS Mafia Island

[JtotheG]

Hello All

Curious everyone's opinion. Heading to the Serengeti in May and thinking of doing some diving afterwards. We are looking at either going to the Seychelles or Mafia Island. I have been told we will miss the whales but curious if anyone has been to both dive locations and how they stack up between each other. Getting to Seychelles apparently is a bit trickier and will take a bit more time so that will also play into it for us, as we will only be able to do 3 days of diving.

it would come as no surprise we always like seeing the big things however perfectly happy to do muck diving and find the nudi's and frog fish.

Thanks for any and all opinions

 

[cetacean]

@JtotheG

Mafia island will have more sharks, about the same chances of encountering turtles as well. Lower chance of seeing mantas (although they are around during the right time of year)

The outer islands of the Seychelles offer the better environment above water, however Mafia would make your travel (to/from Tanzania) significantly easier.

Changing the focus her for a second: hopefully you've already done the research on the safari in the Serengeti bit. It's a massive area, easily bigger that what you can cover in several days or even a week. We've been back a few times... if you are a photographer, it's critical you find a safari operator that is willing to go "off track" to get closer to the animals. There is nothing worse that finding a coalition of cheetahs lying on a small hill 50 feet from the track and not being able to get closer because "vehicles are supposed to stay on the track..." (BTW - they are likely not going to put this in writing, so you need to talk to you planner or to others that have gone with that company).

This may not sound like a big deal but it is. Even just observing Cheetahs from ~10 feet away is a very different experience that seeing them in the distance. This is also true for lions, and virtually every other type of animal you will encounter.

All vehicles are supposed to stay on the tracks (this is adhered to more or less depending on the location, etc.). However there are private reserves attached to the Serengeti (like Klein's or Grumeti) where safaris go off track every day.

Within Tanzania I also highly recommend Lake Manyara - safari there is unlike anywhere else (as an addition to the Serengeti). Last - if you are considering doing the Ngorogoro Crater do it first, it will be a disappointment after doing the Serengeti.

 

[Steven Peterson]

Hello All

Curious everyone's opinion. Heading to the Serengeti in May and thinking of doing some diving afterwards. We are looking at either going to the Seychelles or Mafia Island. I have been told we will miss the whales but curious if anyone has been to both dive locations and how they stack up between each other. Getting to Seychelles apparently is a bit trickier and will take a bit more time so that will also play into it for us, as we will only be able to do 3 days of diving.

it would come as no surprise we always like seeing the big things however perfectly happy to do muck diving and find the nudi's and frog fish.

Thanks for any and all opinions

Diving Seychelles is OK, not great. Not been to Mafia. I have been further south to Richards Bay in South Africa and it was great. Lots of life and big fish.

 

[Espresso Explorer]

I've been to Mafia island in February 24 and January 25 for a total of six dives. Diving is ok, nothing spectacular. Plenty of tropical fish, some nice turtles, but average visibility and corals are not the best. I finally saw the whale sharks this year, which was the only reason for returning.

For roughly the same price and hazzle you could go to Pemba island in Tanzania instead. Beautiful, healthy corals, better visibility and great walls. Maximum number of divers in our boat was 4, no other boats around.

I've done 12 dives at Pemba and 46+ from Zanzibar (Unguja). Mafia is maybe slightly better than Zanzibar, but also significantly more expensive because of marine park fees and more costly flights.

 

[diveUAE]

I think with only 3 days I'd opt for Mafia (or Pemba).

We've dived both and really they both have good/bad things. The underwater scenery in Seychelles was amazing, fish life and corals were ok. With only 3 days, you'd most likely stay at Mahe and do the diving from there, but the best diving we had was from Praslin.

Mafia island diving can be great - we did some 90-120 min muck diving near our resort (Meremeta lodge) that was absolutely amazing. The boat trips were ... ok, did not see anything really outstanding. Did go for snorkeling with the whale sharks - do not recommend! No regulations and too many boats, I nearly got my legs cut of.

 

[Christian]

Another vote for Pemba Island. Was a long time ago since I visited, but to me it stood out as the best in the region. Very different to the other Zanzibar islands as it sits in deep water and its reefs gets awashed with nutritious deep sea currents (and very clear water too). Now you should try to find recent reports on reefs. Everything changes quickly.