ReinhardtS
Registered
Over the Christmas break my family and I visited Zanzibar to escape the cold European winter and enjoy some sunshine! My girlfriend and I decided to take the opportunity to do some diving of course. I thought I would share some experiences here.
I've never done a dive trip writeup, so feel free to ask extra questions if anyone is interested, and tell me what info I missed!
Dive Centers
We decided to dive with One Ocean Zanzibar (Scuba Diving in Zanzibar - One Ocean Dive Centers - PADI 5 Star) as they were the most active to show up in the SSI system (where we tend to always start our search for centres). They are quite a big set-up, with locations in 3 locations across the island. Communication beforehand was by email, but Whatsapp is also possible. They are fast and very clear in the their communication, so we had a very good start.
If you stay relatively close to the shops, the dives include a pick-up service, which is great of course.
We dove at all 3 locations (Stone Town, Matemwe and Kendwa), and got to see all the dive centres and meet quite a few of the staff. All 3 sites used a mix of aluminium and steel tanks, though it looked like most tanks used were aluminium. They all had convertible fittings, with the rented equipment all using the yoke fittings. Equipment was all metric.
As we try to do a speciality every now and then, we also signed up for the SSI Stress & Rescue specialty, which also includes React Right as part of the course. We did this course at the Matemwe shop, and had a young instructor who has most of his experience in Indonesia do the course. As far as we can tell, the course was done right and we "ticked all the boxes", but we were not very impressed with the instructor. It was quite a big disappointment for the amount of money these courses cost. After discussing with other divers on the other days who have done the course elsewhere, we think we could have gotten so much more out of the course, which is a pity. We gave the management feedback about this, and they handled it very well. It turns out that instructor in question already did not have his contract extended.
Dive Sites
Final Thoughts
Though the corals weren't as colourful as other places we've been, the dives were still quite nice. We needed trained eyes to find the special things, which can be more fun sometimes than looking at a cacophony of life and colours and you don't know where to look. The dive centre is quite good, though I think they could have done better matching us up with other divers on the last trip. Also, assigning an instructor to us that has already been chosen to let go was perhaps not the best idea. But they handled the feedback very well, and gave us a great experience for the rest of the trip.
I'd definitely recommend Zanzibar for diving, but probably as a combination of simply visiting the island. I don't think it's a "dive-specific" location as such.
I've never done a dive trip writeup, so feel free to ask extra questions if anyone is interested, and tell me what info I missed!
Dive Centers
We decided to dive with One Ocean Zanzibar (Scuba Diving in Zanzibar - One Ocean Dive Centers - PADI 5 Star) as they were the most active to show up in the SSI system (where we tend to always start our search for centres). They are quite a big set-up, with locations in 3 locations across the island. Communication beforehand was by email, but Whatsapp is also possible. They are fast and very clear in the their communication, so we had a very good start.
If you stay relatively close to the shops, the dives include a pick-up service, which is great of course.
We dove at all 3 locations (Stone Town, Matemwe and Kendwa), and got to see all the dive centres and meet quite a few of the staff. All 3 sites used a mix of aluminium and steel tanks, though it looked like most tanks used were aluminium. They all had convertible fittings, with the rented equipment all using the yoke fittings. Equipment was all metric.
- At Matemwe, we did our Stress & Rescue specialty (read more below), which included a pool session and an OW session. The centre had quite a good set-up with a lot of gear for rent that looked in good condition, various brands. Good washing facilities for afterwards, with different bins for different equipment, which is always good. They were set up for multiple and big groups, and the location catered for that.
- From Stone Town, we did 2 dives off a boat. The dive shop is a bit smaller, with only 1 shower combines with a toilet (whereas the Matemwe shop had a lot more). Again, all equipment was available for rent with various brands. There was only 1 or 2 bins for washing equipment, so it looked a lot less than at the Matemwe shop.
- From Kendwa, we also did 2 dives, off a boat again. This shop is right on the beach under a restaurant and had a fantastic atmosphere. The equipment at this shop was newer and looked in better quality than the other 2 locations. They did have a bit less equipment washing facilities and no shower. This was also the only shop that had the SSI banners and logo's, so I wonder if this could be the 'official' SSI location.
As we try to do a speciality every now and then, we also signed up for the SSI Stress & Rescue specialty, which also includes React Right as part of the course. We did this course at the Matemwe shop, and had a young instructor who has most of his experience in Indonesia do the course. As far as we can tell, the course was done right and we "ticked all the boxes", but we were not very impressed with the instructor. It was quite a big disappointment for the amount of money these courses cost. After discussing with other divers on the other days who have done the course elsewhere, we think we could have gotten so much more out of the course, which is a pity. We gave the management feedback about this, and they handled it very well. It turns out that instructor in question already did not have his contract extended.
Dive Sites
- Kichwani & Wattabomi - These are 2 sites near Matemwe where we finished off the course. We were of course focusing on the course, and not the site itself, but were still able to enjoy the views. The reef is not in the best condition and looks like it's suffering from overfishing and perhaps also high numbers of tourists. We were actually surprised by the number of fish and wildlife we saw for a reef in that condition. But we still saw some fun stuff, and as a bonus on the way back we saw dolphins.
- Bawe South - This site is off Stone Town, about a 45min boat ride to get to. It had a lot more life than the previous site, and quite some nice plant and animal life. Again less colourful reefs than we're used to, but very interesting structures and different plant life than we've seen before.
- The Great Northern - As my brother joined for the dives this day and he really wanted a wreck, we arranged to dive this site. The wreck is an old ship that was used to lay cables on the seabed and sank in 1903. Some features of the wreck are still quite recognisable, and it's attracted an impressive amount of corals and other life. Lots of nurseries being guarded by the mothers. The wreck provided some interesting structures that were fun to explore. As the ship is completely broken up, it's not a wreck to enter, but one to just explore around the outside.
- Hunga - This site is off Kendwa, about 45 min in choppy waters, probably less on a calm day. We had limited (but still adequate) visibility for this dive. Due to a very less experienced diver, we didn't see as much of the reef as we wanted, but it was still a fun dive. Lots of plant life, a bit more than we've seen at other sites. The site was a number of atolls separated by sandy banks, and we drifted from one to the next. This site had a lot of nudibranchs which I love
- Shamzi - This site was a bit more north and closer to the land. We had very bad visibility on this dive (max 4m), so it was a very different experience, as we have not done a lot of those. Again, the less experienced diver did limit what we were able to see. There was quite a variety of life, different types of fish and corals and interesting structures.
Final Thoughts
Though the corals weren't as colourful as other places we've been, the dives were still quite nice. We needed trained eyes to find the special things, which can be more fun sometimes than looking at a cacophony of life and colours and you don't know where to look. The dive centre is quite good, though I think they could have done better matching us up with other divers on the last trip. Also, assigning an instructor to us that has already been chosen to let go was perhaps not the best idea. But they handled the feedback very well, and gave us a great experience for the rest of the trip.
I'd definitely recommend Zanzibar for diving, but probably as a combination of simply visiting the island. I don't think it's a "dive-specific" location as such.
