Diving on Mafia Island
Mafia Island Diving
“Where in the World can you snorkel with Whale Sharks in the morning and dive with sea horses in the afternoon?” Mafia Island.
And without doubt the best Dive operation in Tanzania is Mafia Island Diving. Run in a very professional, yet relaxed way by the highly experienced David and Luke.
Dive Mafia & Baobab Reisen GmbH is proud to introduce Mafia Island Diving as our partners. Whether for experienced Global divers or for someone doing their PADI open water David and his team provide a safe and serious base for all the dives.
With excellent shore dives a few meters from the Dive base and a wealth of dive sites in and outside Chole Bay, easily accessible with the classic wooden Arab dhows (now equipped with outboard motors) the variety is vast.
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Happy Mafia Island Divers
The Mafia archipelago consists of one large island and several smaller ones, each boasting a unique history and bursting at the seams with natures personal touch. The tropical islands are teaming with fantastic colours and lush vegetation, giving a home to a wide amount of animal species from the tiny butterflies to the graceful fruit bat.
Slipping just below the surface of Mafia’s ocean, you find yourself in one of the greatest locations to either start or continue your diving adventure. The majority of the time you will find yourselves as the only divers on site, having a whole section of the ocean just for yourself. With one of the healthiest and diverse coral reef systems, warm waters averaging 26’C, visibility of 25-30 metres and the added security of the largest Marine Park in the Indian Ocean – there is not much more to ask for!
Mafia Island Diving Centre has been in action since 2005 and is one of the longest standing dive operators on the Island.
The most outstanding dive site in Mafia Island is Chole Bay. It is a vast circular bay where the depth goes from 5 to 27 mt. Safe dives are possible throughout the whole year in this bay, which is like a natural harbour. Outside Chole Bay world-class dive sites can be found with, among other attractions, 20m+ deep walls in pristine condition and one of the most varied and vibrant sea life gatherings in East Africa.
Mafia Island Diving offers great diving for advanced and novice divers in safety under professional instruction (PADI certificate). The snorkelling on the shallow reefs surrounding the many islands in and around Chole Bay is a great attraction for non-divers and divers alike. Trained diving assistants handle all equipment, help divers and check their equipment, so that you are free to enjoy the dives and all other activities during each day.
Almost all Mafia’s best diving is at depths of less than 30m so it is a sport diver’s paradise. The reefs of the archipelago offer a staggeringly beautiful and varied display of marine life. The excellent condition and high diversity of the reefs stimulated the creation of Mafia Island Marine Park, Tanzania’s first marine park. Examples of most kinds of tropical marine habitat occur here, including exposed fringing reefs, rock walls, and soft coral and algae-dominated reefs. The diversity of animal and plant life is hard to match, with over 48 genera of coral and 400 species of fish so far identified.
Large predatory fish and turtles are common and surprisingly unaffected by approaching divers. Many reef creatures are nocturnal, avoiding daytime predators. As the light fades and the rich “soup” of plankton rises from deeper water, the daytime, rock-like appearance of coral is transformed into a brilliance of colour as the polyps emerge from their stony cups to feed on the plankton. Night diving is focused on the many small, delicate reef species usually missed during the day.
Note that entry to the Mafia Island Marine Park is EXTRA and costs US$23.6 per person per day; you will need to prepay this amount on entering the Park. Payment can only be made by CREDIT CARD! Prices can fluctuate, so please check when booking.
Baobab Reisen GmbH & Dive Mafia are happy to arrange your Mafia Island experience. For the Internal flights, Hotels, Transfers, Excursions, Activities and Scuba Diving allow us to Tailor make your holiday.
The prices will be the same if you chose to book directly with any of our partners so we are happy to provide links to their websites.
We hope that our local knowledge and combination of British, Swiss and Tanzanian experience will encourage you to book with Dive Mafia and Baobab Reisen GmbH.
Baobab Reisen GmbH is a registered Swiss Company.
Dive Mafia, Safari Ruaha & Fewolenzerheide are Divisions of Baobab Reisen GmbH.