Scuba Diving in Nungwi Zanzibar

There isn't a lot of information on Scuba Diving in Nungwi Zanzibar, other than a few paragraphs - I wanted to know if the investment, financially, was worth taking the trip. I decided to take the leap anyway, and hope that this provides you with a bit more insight & tips and tricks on visiting so you can decide for yourself. 

With the destination of Tanzania being known for its Safaris, the Scuba Diving Safari often gets overlooked. This is a GREAT THING for us divers though, to be able to see such rich diversity of coral, healthy eco & microecosystems at play. I went Scuba Diving with the African and Oriental Travel Company in Nungwi Zanzibar and had the time of my life. While there were a few wobbles along the way (both mentally and with my rusty Scuba skills), visiting Zanzibar taught me a lot about myself and the world. 

If you would like to join the Culture Trekking Scuba Diving Group Tours - sign up here and would love to have you along. 

Quick itinerary/Key Takeaways

There are many places to go Scuba Diving in both Tanzania as well as Zanzibar. Depending on the time of year you are there, will allow you to see some unique sea creatures. 

Zanzibar is also one of the world's best spots for encountering whale sharks, typically there between October and April - but November and December are the best times to see them along with humpback whales. 

October seems to be the slower season, just at the beginning of the dry season, and the clearest waters. This is when I visited, unfortunately I wasn't able to see any whale sharks (still a dream) but the visibility was incredible and there wasn't much of a current (maybe 1-2 knots). 

March to May the winds from the Indian Ocean subside and the waters around Zanzibar become very calm - so if you are a beginner diver, or currents give you a scare - this may be the better time to dive, but is also the rainy season. 

Over 5 days we dove at Magic Reef, Shane's Reef, Mdwangawa, Ras Miskitoni, Kichafi, Hunga, Misoli, and the Coral Gardens - a few of the locations were so incredible we dove them two days in a row. The coral is so healthy, the fish colorful and so varied it was hard to know where to point the camera. There were only 1-2 days where there was a mild current, and a bit cloudy as far as visibility.

Make sure to pack a defogger, anti-nausea meds, Imodium (to counteract the Malaria side effects), drops to dry your ears out and a great tip our guide suggested was tea tree oil before your dive to help protect the ears from getting water logged. 

Scuba Diving Shops

There are dozens of Scuba Diving shops you can use in Nungwi, however, only East African Diving is able to do Nitrox if you want it. It is run by Michael Kurz (from Germany) that hires locals to help bring guests out. It costs $160 per for 2 dives with packages up to 10 dives, and $30 per day for renting your gear, if you dive at Mnemba it is an extra $30 park fee. It is suggested to tip 20% per day, or anything equivalent to $15-$20 per day or more depending on the number of dive shop staff that goes out with you. (These costs are subject to change, but as of 2024/2025 season this is what it is). 

I absolutely LOVED diving in Nungwi, and I found out about this through the African Oriental and Travel Company. This tour company is exceptional in how they handle the vacations, the patience with my plethora of questions from travel nerves. The two main tour guides, Raf and Francisca, also lived in Tanzania for quite awhile and Francisca also studied Anthropology here and they both speak Swahili, which makes negotiating prices very handy.

The dive shop staff were so so good, really energetic and kind. I even had a bit of a panic after my mask filled with water and I inhaled a bunch of sea water. It was the first time it had happened with salt water and also happened quite quickly so I didn't have time to prepare. Luckily, I was one on one with the dive master (as the other members were much more advanced than I, and more recent experience) - he calmed me down, we got the water out, and I was able to continue the dive. 

Type of Diving Available

There was a great range of diving for all of those in our group Scuba Diving Tour from shallow reefs (for beginners or those who it has been awhile since their last dive), deep wall dives with great macro colorful corals, and drift dives over miles of cabbage patch corals that hide sea turtles, octopus, and eels. 

The dive boats are traditional Dhow boats, where entry is a seated back roll over the side (need to be able to bring your foot up unto a bench and get your tank over the lip of the boat on your own) - and then a metal ladder exit. 

Scuba Diving Locations Near Nungwi

The dive sites near Nungwi include:

• West Side: Las Misikitini, Mwana Wa
• North West: Nankivelle and Hunga
• North: Shane's Reef (Magic Reef), Coral Gardens, Chakatuni, Leven Bank
• North East: Mbwangawa, Haji, Kichafi
• East: Misoli, and Leon's Wall
• South East: Mnemba Atoll - Big Wall, Kichwani and Wattabomi

Different dive shops will service different areas and for different lengths of time depending on the gear, boats, fishing schedules, and ability to fuel boats while on the water. I suggest sending an email to the dive shop or group tour beforehand to ensure they will or can visit the different dive areas & experiences you are looking for. 

Dive Site 1 Shane's Reef (Magic Reef)

Appropriate for the name Magic Reef we spotted several unicorn fish, flounder, several eels, toad fish, leaf fish, Black-blotched porcupine fish, brown marbled grouper, lots of crowned squirrelfish, dozens and dozens of smaller fish in their various micro-environments.

Comparitively it was a more shallow dive, around 35-45 feet with opportunities to go deeper, but it wasn't necessary to see some incredible fish. There are also other fish commonly seen like frog fish, sea horses, colorful nudibranchs, and octopuses. 

The current here was about 1 knot, and water temps around 75-80F. This isn't the BEST spot for coral, but it contains some really unique fish.

Dive Site 2 Mbwangawa

At Mbwangawa there were blustripe snapper in large schools, black tip bullseye sweeper, green chromis farmer fish, Staghorn damselfish, fan tip coral, elk horn coral, lettuce coral, pillar and tube coral. 

There was a sea turtle that crawled out between the fan tip corals that was really neat to see.

Dive Site 3 Mawana Wa

This was a bit of a sandy bottom at the start with two pipe fish intertwined that greeted us. It was very hard to tell what they were at first until you got closer. There were several octopus hiding under coral rocks, and many nudibranchs. There was a Cuttlefish hiding in the sand, Clown Fish, Threespot dascyllus Farmerfish, 

Dive Site 4 Kichafi

A favorite dive site for me starting off being greeted by a Yellow-edged Moray Eel, sand diver lizard fish, colorful nudibranchs all over, a juvenile red black lion fish and many more. There are over 500 species of fish along the corals located around Nungwi and Zanzibar. 

This particular location has plate coral that hid the moray eels that seem to pose for the camera, lol - they really do look like they pose for you. At the end of the coral there is a sandy bottom, and gently sloping reef with schools of glass fish, and those who look carefully can also find leaf fish. 

Dive Site 5 Hunga

Another site, Hunga, with areas of coral and soft sandy bottom where a Titan triggerfish was filtering the sand for food when we descended. After looking among the soft corals a big batch of seaweed swayed in the current, and revealed a beautiful big blue octopus who revealed its ability to change into the texture and colors of the rocks it was sitting on.  There was a beautiful sky blue phyllidia nudibranch that was truly mesmerizing. 

Leaf coral spread out before us with tiny black and white farmer fish darting in and out of it as if they were coordinating a dance. A Moorish Idol fish followed me for awhile, possibly entranced by my bright video lights. A Copper rock fish was hanging out on a cluster of leaf coral, Weber's chromis farmer fish, several red toothed triggerfish, the skiddish Iomelas Chromis, and a Turkey Moray actively feeding. 

The De Beaufort's Flathead Fish was hard to see, but after I adjusted my eyes could see it was camouflaged a bit by the sand on it. A grasby grouper looked like it was having a conversation with the Blue Octopus. More varicose wart slugs/nudibranchs hanging out on the corals, more brown marbled grouper, so many farmer fish, soldier fish, HUGE Teira batfish twice the size of my head, reticulate dascyllus farmer fish, and several Chinese trumpet fish. 

Dive Site 6 Misoli

This site was very very good on visibility, as soon as we entered the water we looked down and were able to see the coral reefs 50-60 feet down - it was astounding to see it all layed out before you like that. There were also a lot of dolphins around this area as well, while I was waiting for the boat to pick me up, a small group of dolphins just came and swam right by me - it was magical. 

Between the coral there was a Zebra Eel slithering around, lots of neon damselfish flittering about. The most surprising thing for me on this dive was the common egg cowrie ovulid, where our dive master tickled the black part and it opened up like an eye! 

There were several black spotted tiny box fish, a Valentin's Sharpnose pufferfish, and an Indian Ocean oriental sweetlips rummaging around. 

As our dive was ending a beautiful bright red ribbon looking, what I thought was coral was drifting around in the current. I later learned it was a Spanish Dancer Nudibranch Egg Mass - it was entrancing and absolutely beautiful to see. 

Schools and schools of fish were here with so many varieties of coral & at the very end of our dive, tucked under a rock was a spotted stingray. 

What To Pack For Diving & What To Leave Home

There are some things I wanted to suggest when packing for your Scuba Diving trip to Zanzibar. Try to bring (if you can) Reef Safe Sunscreen, Wide brimmed hat with strap (for the wind on the boat), dried fruit, Imodium (Malaria has a side effect of diarrhea).  

Wet Suit and hood for advanced open water divers who plan on diving the deeper walls. If you run warm (like me) I did just find in an spf skin or rash guard. 

Lobster stick is great if you have trouble in currents or issues with buoyancy. There are a lot of Sea Urchins in Nungwi, so I highly recommend scuba socks/shoes. On the beach there are coral built rock walls, lots of broken shells - so having some protective water socks/shoes is good even if you aren't diving.  

For my ladies, or long hair fellas - bring some reef safe conditioner to put in before diving and it helps with the tangles afterwards, and after days of diving - it helps protect your hair from drying out. 

My Takeaway of Scuba Diving in Zanzibar

While some of the more bougie and experienced divers on our boat said that they saw better diving in remote areas of Thailand and the Philippines, this was by far the best diving I have ever seen. The biodiversity of the coral, small fish, and nudibranchs were so incredible. 

There were no injuries, the dive masters were incredibly knowledgeable and kind, and I truly had the time of my life (minus some of the intrusive thoughts about 'not fitting in' - I go into this more in my YouTube video, so check that out). 

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below - as always - thank you for being here, and for your support - it means the world. Never stop exploring. 

Guided Scuba Diving Tours and Guides I recommend

Make sure to sign up for the exclusive Culture Trekking Tours email list where I will be announcing group Scuba Diving tours . It is not something I will be announcing on social media, only for those who visit my website and Youtube channel.

You can also contact the company that I toured with, The African and Oriental Travel Company - let them know Janiel sent ya ;)  

Where to stay in Nungwi

I personally stayed at Flame Tree Cottages which was part of the package deal when I toured with African Oriental Company. It is owned by a English couple, who strictly hire locals and provide opportunities for locals to come perform live music nights for tips and educational opportunities so people can use the hotel as a stepping stone to get better jobs in other various hotels. 

The positives about the resort: they really have everything you could ask for at this resort. If you don't want to be bothered to set up your own tour, they can do it for you with locals they trust. The couple that run it are from England and hold the kitchen and staff to sanitation and cleaning standards like you would find in the U.K. There is also live music every week, BBQ, Rooftop Yoga, outdoor massages and even kite surfing. There is a sandy area you can sunbath with a good view of the ocean, and a bit removed from the beach with a security guard so you aren't bothered by beach boys or those trying to sell their services. 

The only concerns I have about the resort: there is no direct beach access, where you can walk right into the water or have a beach chair close to the water. The food is good, however if you carefully choose - you can find more affordable meals in town. The problem can be, with doing that, is that you run the risk of not knowing the cleanliness standards or how they keep their meat/fish. 

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