Visiting Diani Beach soon and have some questions

[Dr. X]

Hi everyone.

My family and I are doing a 7 day safari and then winding down at Diani. We're staying at the Swahili for 4 days and I'm the only diver. I see Diving the Crab mentioned often, but am wondering if anyone has used other shops.

Reefo divers, for instance, is at the resort I'm staying at so that would be super convenient. Scuba Duka, Yellow fins, and other shops all have lots of good ratings but I'm just not sure.

Also, if you went, did you rent a car while in Diani? Is it worth it/safe? Any other interesting things to do in Diani Beach?

Thank you in advance.

Nick

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[chf]

I’m living in Nairobi and Diani is our go to place on the coast. I would recommend diving with either OceanTribe or Diving the Crab. Lots of the other shops are more cowboy style with questionable equipment. Go on a trip to Wasini Island with Pilli Pipa Dhow, definitely worth the trip and both their boat and restaurant are far better than any competitors. Unfortunately we had quite high water temperatures for the last few years and quite a bit of coral bleaching.

I don’t think there’s any need to rent a car. Getting a driver / tuktuk will be cheaper and more relaxing. Generally you don’t have to travel long distances there.

 

[Dr. X]

I’m living in Nairobi and Diani is our go to place on the coast. I would recommend diving with either OceanTribe or Diving the Crab. Lots of the other shops are more cowboy style with questionable equipment. Go on a trip to Wasini Island with Pilli Pipa Dhow, definitely worth the trip and both their boat and restaurant are far better than any competitors. Unfortunately we had quite high water temperatures for the last few years and quite a bit of coral bleaching.

I don’t think there’s any need to rent a car. Getting a driver / tuktuk will be cheaper and more relaxing. Generally you don’t have to travel long distances there.

Thank you so much kind internet stranger!!

 

[chf]

Thank you so much kind internet stranger!!

Anytime. If you need any more info on Kenya or Diani just get in touch!

 

[Dr. X]

FOLLOW-UP:

Just returned from Kenya.

1. Did a 2 tank (nitrox) dive with Diving the Crab. We visited the MV Fuongo wreck and the Igloo "reef".

Diving the Crab was excellent. Knowledgeable crew with plenty of staff and very well organized. Their shop was also top notch. I only rented a wetsuit so can't comment on their equipment. They only rent shorties (even though their staff all wore full wetsuits I highly recommend this dive shop overall.

Note that they use the metric system, which threw me and the dive guide off a bit.

The diving, unfortunately, was less than ideal: windy, seas somewhat rough, with poor vis (maybe 30 ft). I got cold after the first dive and luckily had a cap to wear for the second dive, which kept me just short of shivering, though still cold and uncomfortable.

There was a nice variety of fish at the wreck, but virtually nothing at the Igloo site. Very few fish and no corals. My dive partner told me she saw a pistol shrimp and some nudibranchs. How she did that I have no idea – as I mentioned the conditions were somewhat rough with a little current and poor visibility.

I was underweighted for the second half of the second dive because I listened to the dive master who told me to cut my weight down to 2kg from the 3kg I used on the first dive. My fault for listening, obviously. As soon as my tank got halfway empty I had to fight to stay down and not shoot to the top. Not fun. Due to the conditions and nothing to see I decided to not dive on the second or third days. But I did the Pili Pippa boat trip to the Kisei reef the next day, where I snorkeled. That is definitely worth doing:

2. The Pili Pippa crew was outstanding. Their restaurant was really top notch. The conditions were a little better than the prior day. I didn’t dive with them as I had planned but I feel I made the right decision watching the other tourists’ dive experience. The equipment looked really old (regs, BCs, wetsuits) and the operation was really loosey goosey. I would have worried for my safety, honestly, though everything seemed to go well. I got the sense the dives were all beginner dives (30 ft or less).

The snorkeling: oh my God, that reef must have been SPECTACULAR in years past. When it was still alive. The variety and size of the (now all dead) stony corals is beyond belief. There were some nice anemones and the fish were still very plentiful, large variety, colorful. We even saw a large octopus, a spotted moray, and some giant clams in addition to pretty much every kind of reef fish I’m familiar with.

Many thanks to chf!

 

[Dr. X]

I wanted to add some pix from the Kisei reef (snorkeling) to illustrate what I said above.
In the fourth picture at the left you can see a rock with lots of bubble tip anemone.
In that same picture at around the six o'clock location you can also see one of the surviving corals, a Pocillopora it looks like, that also appears to be growing.
Elsewhere there were some even larger colonies of plate coral and a large-polyp stony coral - also brown, but also clearly in the growth phase.
I'd love to hear from someone who saw these when they were still alive. Pictures would be amazing, if available.