Marvelle
Registered
Hi, as I'm a novice diver my trip report won't be that in-depth but a few things I've discovered in Zanzibar:
1) diving off Stone Town, while not ideal, had decent marine life (small) and had much more personality than the diving off the northeast (matemwe, I think but we dove the Mnemba Atoll). You get the samosa, chipati bread, mango/orange lunch and something about departing and arriving at Stone Town is very visually appealing. Not a lot of people (they're all diving up north).
I took One Ocean divers, one of the main shops. They are located right across the alley from Livingstone's - the most famous bar in Zanzibar (Livingstone's former house where he planned his last expedition into Africa). I stayed at the Al Johari in the casbah area of Stone Town and the Tembo Hotel, which is around the corner from One Ocean.
They were fine - a Brazilian guy and UK woman run the place. We heard good things about Bahari Divers, which is literally around the corner. I had initially scheduled with Bahari but found One Ocean first and liked their shop and attitude. So, I think you're fine with either. We loved the dhow that One Ocean uses.
We dove two sites, Bawe South (which we didn't like because it looks like a nuclear bomb went off and the marine life was small). Then, the much shallower but incredibly gorgeous Great Northern, where we saw lion fish, morays, a blue-spotted stingray and other cool stuff (some nudibranchs). The lunch was the highlight as we just lulled around stuffing our faces with veggie and meat samosas and chipati bread.
2) Through One Ocean in Stone Town, I organized a double dive off the Mnemba Atoll with their sister shop near there. A bus picks you up at One Ocean at 7 a.m. and it takes about an hour (the guy flies down the highways) and then you are at the dive shop on the NE coast. It took us about 40 minutes in a dala dala over some REALLY rocky roads to get to the boat at low tide. Thankfully, the tide came in and we were able to sail back directly to the dive shop and save our bums. We had a few drinks at the hotel where the dive shop is and then the bus came and took us back to Stone Town and we were there by 4 p.m. It was really worth it.
The only problem with Mnemba is that all the dive sites were packed and we had about 10 people on our boat. The Stone Town dhow was only about 5. And that dala dala ride sucked but anywhere worth getting isn't easy.
The first site was Aquarium - AWESOME! Lots of life, much better reefs than Stone Town (Mnemba is protected). The second site was Kichwani and it was fantastic as well. No sharks or mantas but lots of schooling fish and actually the best part of the second dive was the decompress as there was a good drift and it took us by the biggest abundances of fish. Saw a huge sea turtle (green I think) at Aquarium.
If you want to stay in Stone Town - where the fun is - then you can still dive the north and NE in a day and get back. The NE is beautiful though and I kind of wish that I had stayed there at least one night and dived Mnemba again. Either way, you're in good shape. But if you're an expert diver then Stone Town likely isn't for you - try Pemba if you have time or Mafia - or at least get up to Mnemba for a few days.
3) Finally, I dove a shop in Dar es Salaam based out of the White Sands Hotel (which was like a prison compound with all the security). The staff was initially very bristly and I was getting a bad vibe but the owner Hannes showed up and really has a nice demeanor. He was our dive master and was a lot of fun. The dives were great. The first was Fern Wall, with tons of sea fans and great coral formations. Kept hearing these distant booms and thought it was some kind of noisemaker from Hannes to point out fish. The second site was shallow but had some nice smaller aggregations of colorful reef fish. The booms there were much louder and we finally realized it was the dynamite fishing going on near us. Very, very sad.
Heard Dar was totally forgettable but had a great time that day (as I usually do when I'm diving). I would recommend at least one dive off Stone Town for the dhow ride and the laid-back atmosphere.
So, that's all I have to report. If you're going, hit me up and I'll try and advise you in any way I can.
1) diving off Stone Town, while not ideal, had decent marine life (small) and had much more personality than the diving off the northeast (matemwe, I think but we dove the Mnemba Atoll). You get the samosa, chipati bread, mango/orange lunch and something about departing and arriving at Stone Town is very visually appealing. Not a lot of people (they're all diving up north).
I took One Ocean divers, one of the main shops. They are located right across the alley from Livingstone's - the most famous bar in Zanzibar (Livingstone's former house where he planned his last expedition into Africa). I stayed at the Al Johari in the casbah area of Stone Town and the Tembo Hotel, which is around the corner from One Ocean.
They were fine - a Brazilian guy and UK woman run the place. We heard good things about Bahari Divers, which is literally around the corner. I had initially scheduled with Bahari but found One Ocean first and liked their shop and attitude. So, I think you're fine with either. We loved the dhow that One Ocean uses.
We dove two sites, Bawe South (which we didn't like because it looks like a nuclear bomb went off and the marine life was small). Then, the much shallower but incredibly gorgeous Great Northern, where we saw lion fish, morays, a blue-spotted stingray and other cool stuff (some nudibranchs). The lunch was the highlight as we just lulled around stuffing our faces with veggie and meat samosas and chipati bread.
2) Through One Ocean in Stone Town, I organized a double dive off the Mnemba Atoll with their sister shop near there. A bus picks you up at One Ocean at 7 a.m. and it takes about an hour (the guy flies down the highways) and then you are at the dive shop on the NE coast. It took us about 40 minutes in a dala dala over some REALLY rocky roads to get to the boat at low tide. Thankfully, the tide came in and we were able to sail back directly to the dive shop and save our bums. We had a few drinks at the hotel where the dive shop is and then the bus came and took us back to Stone Town and we were there by 4 p.m. It was really worth it.
The only problem with Mnemba is that all the dive sites were packed and we had about 10 people on our boat. The Stone Town dhow was only about 5. And that dala dala ride sucked but anywhere worth getting isn't easy.
The first site was Aquarium - AWESOME! Lots of life, much better reefs than Stone Town (Mnemba is protected). The second site was Kichwani and it was fantastic as well. No sharks or mantas but lots of schooling fish and actually the best part of the second dive was the decompress as there was a good drift and it took us by the biggest abundances of fish. Saw a huge sea turtle (green I think) at Aquarium.
If you want to stay in Stone Town - where the fun is - then you can still dive the north and NE in a day and get back. The NE is beautiful though and I kind of wish that I had stayed there at least one night and dived Mnemba again. Either way, you're in good shape. But if you're an expert diver then Stone Town likely isn't for you - try Pemba if you have time or Mafia - or at least get up to Mnemba for a few days.
3) Finally, I dove a shop in Dar es Salaam based out of the White Sands Hotel (which was like a prison compound with all the security). The staff was initially very bristly and I was getting a bad vibe but the owner Hannes showed up and really has a nice demeanor. He was our dive master and was a lot of fun. The dives were great. The first was Fern Wall, with tons of sea fans and great coral formations. Kept hearing these distant booms and thought it was some kind of noisemaker from Hannes to point out fish. The second site was shallow but had some nice smaller aggregations of colorful reef fish. The booms there were much louder and we finally realized it was the dynamite fishing going on near us. Very, very sad.
Heard Dar was totally forgettable but had a great time that day (as I usually do when I'm diving). I would recommend at least one dive off Stone Town for the dhow ride and the laid-back atmosphere.
So, that's all I have to report. If you're going, hit me up and I'll try and advise you in any way I can.
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