whale sharks

"Many people visit Mafia purely for its diving, which is considered by some to be the best anywhere in East Africa. It’s easy to dive two sites outside the bay on a single outing and the hour-long trip out and back again can also be great for sunbathing, sailing and dolphin-spotting," writes Jean de Villiers.

The warm, clear, tropical waters surrounding Mafia Island on the coast of Tanzania offer both new and master divers a memorable scuba diving experience. In fact, rumour has it that the best diving in Africa is found in the Mafia Island Marine Park. Some divers even claim it is better than diving the Great Barrier Reef! Still, when choosing a diving destination, many divers are unaware of this and instead flock in their numbers to a diving experience in the more well-known waters of Zanzibar.

Swimming with whale sharks is a unique experience and a bucket list item for many people. These gentle giants only surface in a few places in the world, for a limited period of time, and finding the right place to have your encounter, isn’t as straight-forward as it might seem.

Swimming with the largest fish on earth has become a bucket list item for many. Thousands of people travel all over the world every year, chasing the various whale shark seasons, to get the opportunity to swim with these gentle giants as they migrate to shallower waters to feed.