

Diving & Snorkelling
Zanzibar diving and snorkelling is amongst the most spectacular
in the world with stunning coral gardens and more than 350 fish
species recorded. The diverse aquatic life off Zanzibar's coast
includes frequent sightings of turtles and dolphins,
as well as occasional sightings of humpback whales
and whale sharks! Our magnificant 20+ dive sites
offer variety and adventure for beginners trying scuba for the
first time as well as for the experienced diver!
 |
We appreciate that you are on
holiday and we will not wake you for a 5.00am boat launch
- unless it is your choice to do so! Relax on Kendwa Beach
and join any of our many launches each day. We plan our
dives around the tides to offer you the best visibility
and least currents. However, our diverse reefs offer brilliant
diving any time of day, and year-round diving.
You my choose drift diving, deep
diving, fish identification or
an exhilerating night dive! Our fringing
Kendwa Reef offers lovely coral bommies close to shore in
shallow water, however our diving and snorkelling trips
are all by boat.
Snorkellers may choose to go to Kendwa
Reef and Kendwa Gardens which
are located 800 meters out from our dive base and hence
only a couple minutes by boat. Enthusiastic snorkellers
may choose to swim to the reef - please stop by the dive
centre for tips and pointers. |
Tumbatu Island is highly recommended for snorkelling;
with untouched reefs it is still a hidden treasure and only a
15 minute journey by speed boat. Last, but certainly not least,
snorkellers will want to see the famous Mnemba Atoll
which by the Scuba Do boats is only a 30 minute journey from Scuba
Do! Snorkellers are welcome to join any dive boats going to these
destinations or we will organise a trip exclusively for snorkelling
if you desire.
|
|
|
Boats & Equipment
We dive from rigid inflatable boats which
drop us on the dive site and then pick us up after surfacing
- so, no long surface swims back to the boat! We travel
to the dive sites quickly and safely - not to mention that
the dolphins love our boats!
Each boat is powered with NEW, twin Yamaha 85hp
engines and they are equipped with marine
radios to enable communications both between boats
and with our bases. Each boat also has a Garmin GPS to ensure
precise and accurate drops on dive sites. |
 |
You will find top-quality
diving equipment at Scuba Do with our AP Valve "Buddy
Explorer" BCDs, Mares R2DFC
and Sherwood Brute regulators
depending on your preferences, and REEF South Africa
wetsuits. Our masks and fins are Mares,
IST and Divetek, covering
a variety of sizes and styles to guarantee a comfortable
fit.

Safety Procedures
We pride ourselves on our stringent safety procedures
and we do everything within our power to ensure you have
a safe diving holiday. Our divemasters carry surface marker
buoys on all dives and we issue pocket surface marker buoys
to each diver or buddy team, depending upon the dive site
and conditions. Our compressor air quality is regularly
tested by the local Bauer agent and we also have a Wenoll-System
emergency oxygen re-breather, a paramedic grab bag and a
fully stocked medical kit available. |

Dive Sites
 |
All of our sites offer a wide
range of beautiful soft and hard
corals.
The marine life seen on many of our dives include
angelfish, butterfly fish, moorish idols, lionfish, surgeon
fish, trigger fish, clown fish, damsel fish, cuttle fish,
cray fish, puffer fish, box fish, parrot fish, nudibranches,
shrimps, crabs, wrasses, snappers, eels, sting rays, dolphins,
barracudas, sweet lips, groupers and turtles, plus many
many more!
Listed below are the sites regularly dived by Scuba Do.
We are very flexible and will try our best to arrange the
dives you want. |
Made up of a series of interconnected bommies
consisting of hard and soft corals at 18m, Hunga
Reef is one of the best dive sites in Zanzibar.
Often seen are big shoals of barracuda, tuna and snappers.
You can also expect to see parrotfish, unicorn fish, schools
of sweetlips and brightly coloured coral grouper. Nearby
and at a depth of 15m Nankivell Reef consists
of giant plate corals in fascinating formations. This reef
is home to rays, napoleon wrasse, giant remoras and groupers. |
Tumbatu Island
is surrounded by a coral shelf, which supports a diverse
selection of colourful corals and small reef fish. Gentle
currents and calm waters offer a relaxing dive either along
a shallow coral wall 8 - 12m deep at Three Turtles
or a gradual bank at Coral Beach.
On the tip of Tumbatu is a lovely dive site known as Mwana
wa Mwana with a gradual sloping wall from 5 to
12 metres. Several of our guests have commented that this
dive has the best variety of corals seen in the world and
we believe this looks identical to the reef in "Finding
Nemo"! Tumbatu is Zanzibar's best kept scuba secret! |
Mnemba Atoll is a favourite
with many divers and visibility here is often in excess
of 20m. You will find a variety of dive sites with depths
between 10 and 30m, suitable for both beginners and advanced
divers. Visit Kichwani Wall, a steep coral
bank with a number of small crevices hiding lion fish and
porcupine fish, if you look up to the top of the wall you
may be lucky and see the occasional pod of dolphins swimming
by, or look out into the blue to see schools of kingfish
and grouper. Further round the atoll, Watta Bommy
and the Aquarium are the favourite locations
for turtles. Both Hawksbill and green turtles come here
to rest on top of the plate corals and are very patient
with divers as well as those with cameras! |
|
Near the famous Mnemba Atoll, The Great Wall
is an advanced deep dive with a depth ranging from 30 to
50 metres. This site boasts dominant brain coral. Napolean
wrass, snappers and tuna are often seen and turtles can
also be found here. |
Leven Bank is an undersea
mountain approximately 6km long. The surrounding deep water
and strong currents bring schools of large pelagic fish
to the area. Either drift with the current along the top
of the bank at 18 -25m or drop on the side of the bank at
30m and make your way to the top. Expect to see moray eels
and octopus and be surrounded by schools of tuna, barracuda
and kingfish. An exhilarating dive recommended for advanced
divers. |
Our local reef known as Kendwa Reef
offers several dive sites which are ideal for beginners
or qualified divers interested in a long shallow dive. The
coral reef runs parallel to shore and has a maximum depth
of 8-10m you will see many small reef fish and beautiful
anenomes hiding in the coral garden. Kendwa Gardens
is a specific drop on this reef offering a shallow dive
with many nudibranches, spanish dancers, pipefish and occasionally
marbled electric rays. Come to Kendwa Reef after dark for
a night dive and see a completely different selection of
aquatic life. |
Mbele ya Mwizi is just along
the beach from Scuba Do Dive Centre. It consists of a coral
reef 5 - 15m deep. Rare staghorn coral grows in this area
and frequent visitors include squid, cuttlefish and a variety
of rays. |
Around the northern tip of Zanzibar Island,
a stunning wall of lattice or maze coral fringes the island.
With depths ranging from 10 to 20 metres, we dive Kichafi
and Haji reefs and often both reefs within
the same dive. Mbwangawa is another one
of our favourites with a variety of corals in combination
with a variety of fish life. Chakatuni
is another reef on the northeast tip which borders on deeper
waters and is best to dive on the high slack tide to minimise
the currents. |
For the adventurous divers, we are always keen to go exploring
new areas with the assistance of sonar combined with the knowledge
of local skippers. We recently had a look at Mussa's Reef
which was a fantastic shallow wall next to Popo island. When sea
conditions are accommodating, we are always keen to go exploring
reefs enroute to Pangani or even Pemba!
Scuba
Do Zanzibar PADI Dive Centre is the best diving on the
Zanzibar Archipelego!
|