Diving in Chole Bay

"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.

Scuba diving is a passion for many people across the world. For the experienced diver, it is the chance to discover new depths, to finetune your buoyancy control, and to find the hidden treasures that lie in wait at every new dive site. For the novice, it that magical feeling of being able to breathe underwater for the first time. It’s seeing a whole new submerged world, where time stands still and you become part of the sea life – drifting weightlessly through a flourishing landscape that remains hidden to most eyes.