There is a lot of excellent drift diving along the big walls and some huge independent bommies teeming with reef fish. These are for the more experienced divers only.
PEMBA ISLAND
Pemba Island forms part of the Zanzibar archipelago and is about 50 km long. Visibility is excellent in these warm tropical waters & the average water temperature is 28’, and whilst the best months to dive are September through to April diving is good year round with exception of May.
Pemba has more interesting, varied and spectacular diving than anywhere else in East Africa. The coastline is dotted with tiny, uninhabited islands providing almost unlimited dive sites around and in the channels between, plus there is the 800m deep Pemba channel with world-class deep-sea fishing.
There is a lot of excellent drift diving along the big walls and some huge independent bommies teeming with reef fish. These are for the more experienced divers only. At the right times of year, you can encounter schools of pilot whales and awesome humpback whales. All of the recommended diving is found off the west coast and with the dive sites stretching from the northern to the southern tip.
In the north there are almost limitless dive sites stretching right around the northern tip towards the east coast. Most of the good dives are fast drifts, catching the tide as it sweeps in or out through the gaps between the islets and there are also some excellent underwater bommies where huge schools of pelagic species congregate. There is enough variety here to keep anyone happy with at least a week of good diving. To give you a taste of what it is all about, here are just a few of the recommended dive sites
Deep Freeze: max depth : 90m
So named because it seems to catch a cold current from the depths. Deep freeze is the Southern side of Fundo Gap. Visibility varies from 15 metres to 70 metres. When the visibility is low, the site becomes a magnet for turtles and giant trevally, both Bluefin and Blackfin. When the visibility is high, you can see the bottom of Fundo gap at 90 metres – makes you feel very, very small.
Manta Point: max depth : deep
No mantas here, instead as you swirl around this underwater mountain that rises from the depths to within 6m of the surface, you should look for the huge schools of jackfish and surgeonfish that streak out of the blue and in towards groups of divers – a great spot for pelagic watching.
Njjao Gap : max depth : 50m
Either side of Njao Gap encounter table-top coral, sea whips and gorgonian sea fans with giant groupers, Napoleon wrasse, titan trigger-fish and regular darting wahoo, jacks and giant trevally.
In the south, Mesali Island is a Marine Reserve and the coral jewel in the crown with shallow water reefs in pristine condition so snorkellers can indulge. Along the southern coast there is an almost continuous wall of soft coral, but be aware of the strong currents. Again, there is enough variety to keep anyone happy for 4 to 5 days of good diving. Recommended sites down this way include ..
Murray’s Wall : max depth : 60m
Just off Mesali Island, this is a craggy wall peppered with small caves, ridges and underwater peninsula. Large rivers of sand run off the top of the reef to form wide canyons that enter the wall at 25m. Gorgonian fans are in abundance below 20m. On a turning tide the marine life is exceptional and the currents quite strong. Huge giant grouper lazily drift through the reef and hundreds of surgeonfish cruise below divers, still visible at 40 to 50 metres.
Christmas Reef : max depth : 30m
Discovered on Christmas Day 1999 this reef is a very steep slope of pristine hard coral that descends from 12 to 35 metres where it too becomes a wall. Christmas is unique for its sheer density of coral and this site is a pleasure to drift along at any depth.
