Zanzibar Diving

A. Learn Diving

B. Continuing Your Diving Education

Diving in Zanzibar's South East Coast

Away from the overcrowded beaches of Kiwengwa, Nungwi, and Kendwa, Paje is renown for its stunning beaches, unspoilt village life, small sized guesthouses and lodges.

The stretch reaching from kizimkazi (south point of island, famous for dolphin spotting) through jambiani, paje, bwejuu, dongwe to michamvi (which is situated on the eastern tip of chwaka bay), is often refered to as the secret coast of Zanzibar, where the real identity of the island is still preserved and untouched from mass tourism.

The diving around Paje is pristine with some of the finest corals to be found in East Africa. The protected natural lagoon is a great choice for all levels of divers and accompagning snorkellers and it also means that we can offer a number of good safe and protected dives in the rougher monsoon and in general for beginners. The lagoon also is an ideal spot for nightdives.

In addition we have a number of sites on the outer reef within a 25-minute fast boat ride of our base offering a wide variety of topography ranging from walls, gentle slopes to caves and exciting marine life, some also suitable for beginners and some of which accessible only to more expert divers ...and we are always looking for more!

We also offer dives and snorkeling from our sister operation at the Swahili Beach Hotel in Kizimkazi in the South of the island. Kizimkazi is renowned for its dolphins and idyllic sand banks and a days diving followed by a seafood lunch is a must.

In addition to our special kizimkazi trip, we also organise a day trip to the atoll of mnemba, located in a marine park that is a great location both diving and snorkelling. Watch out for other seasonal special trips.

The Weather Conditions

East Africa is very much subject to the trade winds that blow along the coast. This does mean that we can predict with some degree of accuracy the diving conditions we can expect throughout the year. Generally the best times for diving are October through to December and February through to late March with visibility up to 30m.

The diving in August and September can be good in Paje and if the weather conditions do get rough there are a number of very good lagoon dives on offer.

The Most Common Marine Life

Some of the fish you can expect to see at all sites are varieties of wrasse, angelfish, lionfish, scorpion fish, nudibranches, leaf fish, stingrays, sea cucumbers, snake eels, trumpet fish, moray eels, groupers, jackfish and more.

In our gardens and walls outside the reef we also find bigger fish like king fish, yellow fin tuna, baracudas, reef sharks, turtles, napoleon fish, from time to time dolphins and in season humpback whales.

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Special Full Day to Mnemba Atoll

Mnemba Coral Garden - Depth: 6 metres: Great for beginner divers and a shallow repetitive dive. The corals here almost reach the surface and harbour a myriad of marine creatures. For those of you with a keen eye, there are two resident giant Frogfish as well as Snake Eels and young Octopus!

Wattaboni - Depth: 12 - 22 metres: Green Turtles abound! This dive features a sandy slope and fringing hard coral reef. Large Green Turtles come to rest here amongst the corals and as long as they are not approached too closely they seem quite indifferent to scuba divers. Also frequently seen here are Scorpion Fish, Octopus and many types of Moray Eels hiding in the holes along the reefs edge. Reef sharks have been spotted out in the blue and large Stingrays sometimes feed in the deeper waters. Suitable for all levels of diver.

Kichwani Depth - Depth: 6 - 40 metres: A wall of hard and soft corals descends down into the depths from just a couple of metres below the surface. The marine life on this dive is simply breathtaking! Schooling fish feed in the shallow waters while larger predatory fish can be seen hunting in the blue. The macro life along the wall is vibrant and varied and includes many types of hard and soft coral, which provide homes for colourful creatures such as Lobster and Mantis Shrimp, Morays and Nudibranchs. There is also a large resident Napoleon Wrasse in the deeper waters. This dive is suitable for all levels.

Big Wall - Depth: 14 - 40+ metres: As the name suggests, this site forms the Northeastern edge of the Mnemba Atoll. The wall itself is almost a kilometre long and has many interesting features and visitors! At a depth of 30m/100ft there are small caves and hollows where smaller reef and oceanic fish can shelter from predators and currents. Tuna, Trevally and Reef Sharks hunt in the deeper sections along the bottom of the wall. Manta Rays and Hammerheads have both been spotted in the blue water. Whalesharks cruise the area in season! Large Turtles keep the Morays and Lobsters company on the reef shelf. Best dived on a slack tide due to the presence of ocean currents. Suitable for Advanced and experienced divers only.

Book Now through our Reservations Desk at reservations@zanzibarquest.com

Dive Sites Inside The Reef

The Lagoon - Depth: 6 - 18 metres: It is an excellent beginner dive as well as being perfect for the first dive trip of the holiday. Common sightings include nudibranches, leaf fish, snake eels, pipefish, big schools of bat fish, scorpion and lion fish, puffers and trumpet fish. This is the site where we often start training for underwater photography and uw videography courses.

Lagoon Mounding - Depth: 6 - 16 metres: Beautiful inner reef dive site with varied marine life and a stunning coral landscape, quite similar to Lagoon. This site is where we usually run our regular night dives as the likelihood of seeing the stunning Spanish dancers in addition to other nocturnal species is very high.

Stingray City - Depth: 18 metres: This dive is conducted along the wall inside the lagoon and culminates in Stingray city where chances are high to see dozens of Blue Spot Stingrays in addition to the same species found at the lagoon and lagoon mounding.

Book Now through our Reservations Desk at reservations@zanzibarquest.com

Dive Sites Outside the Reef from Paje

Cement Wall - Depth: 12 - 35 metres: Site named after a ship that in the 1930`s lost it's cargo of cement, here we still find 3 enormous anchors during the dives, one of which is set in front of a small cave in addition to spectacular colors and rich marine life. Either we dive across the garden or alongside the wall, making it suited for all levels of certification.

Sau Inn Garden - Depth: 6 - 20 metres: A stunningly beautiful garden of assorted corals with amazing colors and a plentitude of fish. A great second dive of the day as much of it is conducted at a depth of less than 10 Metres. Keep your eye out for leaf fish and the occasional ribbon eel.

The Big Cave - Depth: 12 - 25 metres: A cave at 25 m where you in addition to the species mentioned previously, are more likely to find large moray, groupers and large lobsters. The site has very beautiful coral with plenty of fish. We drop by the wall that leads us to the cave and finish the dive in a coral garden.

Barracuda Point - Depth: 10 - 25 metres: The dive starts with a drop onto a bed and follows it's slope to about 20 m. It is a vast coral garden with mounds and overhangs that shelter a variety of shellfish and some of our more shy reef fish.

Powoni North, Powoni Hill, Powoni South - Depth: 12 - 30 metres: Three divesites within 20 minutes of our base with particular magnificent table corals, normally crowded - among other species - by sweet lips and unicornfish, keep on throwing an eye in the blue for occasional pelagics.

Powoni Cave - Depth: 15 - 30 metres: This sites characteristic is a gentle slope full of corals with a stunning overhang, among other species a lot of moray eels can be found here.

Napoleon Wall - Depth: 12 - 35 metres: Spectacular drop off that has its name from the resident napoleon wrasse in addition to stunning soft and hard corals, you will find a wide number of species among which various moray eels.

Giant Grouper Wall - Depth: 12 - 28 metres: As the name said this is a wall dive, during which we can see a lot of groupers, in particular, potato groupers and with some luck we will spot some pelagic in the blue.

Woo North and South - Depth: 12 - 30 metres: Spectacular soft and hard corals landscape with a lot of microlife, stunning colours . this site is a must for underwater photographers.

Riva: This is at the mouth of the mlango (Swahili for door) wonderfull coral and with luck bigger fish (sometimes here we see white and black tip reef sharks)

Book Now through our Reservations Desk at reservations@zanzibarquest.com

Dive Sites Outside the Reef Kizimkazi

Lionfish and Jackfish Wall - Depth: 10 - 25 metres: Two excellent sites on the southern tip of the island. This is the dolphin play ground of Zanzibar. The dolphins we find are "bottlenose & humpback" dolphins in additional to unspoilt coral reefs and rich marine live.

Coral Garden - Depth: 12 - 15 metres: Very beautifull coral garden with a lot to see (stonefish, nudibranches, moray eels, lionfish...sometimes barracuda...), suited for beginners.

Book Now through our Reservations Desk at reservations@zanzibarquest.com

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