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.