Spent 3 days diving in Zanzibar late October. We dove in three areas, one day on the reefs near Kendwa beach and Nungwi, another day on the reefs off Tumbatu island and our final day an Mnemba. We dove with Scuba Do which were a great company. The diving off Kendwa and Tumbatu was ok, visibility was never great, maybe 10-15m at best.. my wife was finishing her open water certification so it was ok, I was just happy to be diving with her but the coral and sea life were not abundant. Our third day in Menmba was fantastic, visibility was phenomenal, we probably saw 50 times more sea life.. turtles, eels, more schools of fish than I can count and even a couple of reef shark. We even saw dolphins on the boat ride over. I haven't done a lot of warm water diving, mostly cold water wrecks in Canada but Mnemba really impressed me. For lunch we went to a shallow area and everyone went for a swim, it was crystal clear turqoise water you only think exists in magazines.
All this to say, if you go to Zanzibar, at least in October when we went, do your diving in Mnemba, even if it costs a little more. However as far as beaches are concerned, Kendwa beach is beautiful and one of the rare beaches on the island that doesn't dissapear in high tide. Scuba Do has speed boats so they can get you out to Mnemba in 40 minutes but need 5 people to do the trip. There's another dive shop on Kendwa beach right next door that will do a Mnemba trip any day with 2 people or more.. except they take a wooden boat so it takes 2 hours to get to the dive site. Didn't go with them but it would probably be a relaxing ride, just a long day this way. Or you could just stay on the other side of the island in Matamwe where all their diving is done in Mnemba by default.
All this to say, if you go to Zanzibar, at least in October when we went, do your diving in Mnemba, even if it costs a little more. However as far as beaches are concerned, Kendwa beach is beautiful and one of the rare beaches on the island that doesn't dissapear in high tide. Scuba Do has speed boats so they can get you out to Mnemba in 40 minutes but need 5 people to do the trip. There's another dive shop on Kendwa beach right next door that will do a Mnemba trip any day with 2 people or more.. except they take a wooden boat so it takes 2 hours to get to the dive site. Didn't go with them but it would probably be a relaxing ride, just a long day this way. Or you could just stay on the other side of the island in Matamwe where all their diving is done in Mnemba by default.
