Scuba Diving Zanzibar: The Spice Island

November 09, 2015

Diving Zanzibar: From the Roof to the Basement of Africa

Pool scene at Ras Nungwi Beach Hotel

With this adventure Jack and I completed the 19,401ft descent from the tallest point in Africa, the summit of Kilimanjaro to 60ft below sea level off the coast of Mnemba Atoll near Zanzibar, Africa.

Stone Town, Zanzibar

Ornate Door in Stone Town

Zanzibar is a collection of islands off the coast of East Africa. The fact that the main island of Unguja, which is now generally referred to as Zanzibar, provided a defensible harbor which led to it becoming a strategic trading post for Arab, Indian, and Chinese traders. Together with Mafia Island, Zanzibar is often nicknamed the "Spice Islands" due to it main exports of spices including nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, and black pepper. The wealth and rich history of Zanzibar can easily be seen today by strolling through the World Heritage Site of Stone Town with it's massive ornately carved doors, minarets, and sultan palaces.

Stone Town

Zanzibar's name is a reflection of its history. The Persians called most of the east African coast زَنۡگِبَار zang-i-bar or "Coast of the Blacks". The Arabs borrowed this name as زَنۡجِبَار zanjibar and applied it to the island. Zanjibar was then borrowed into Swahili as Zanzibar.

Ras Nungwi

The North coast of Zanzibar holds the little town of Nungwi which encompasses small shacks built out of coral surrounding a local soccer field, and fancy hotels lining a beautiful beach. This is where we headed after a quick 1hr flight from Kilimanjaro. The storm clouds we flew through on the way to Zanzibar seemed to part as we zipped across the island towards our hotel in Nungwi. We decided to splurge a bit after our week-long trek on Kilimanjaro so we had prearranged a two night stay at the luxurious Ras Nungwi Beach Hotel. My dad was there waiting at our beachside bungalow when Jack and I showed up, ready for some relaxation time. Checking the guest book it mostly looked like honeymooning couples from Europe and the Middle East.

Clear waters of Zanzibar

After a quick dip in the pool overlooking the ocean I got to work arranging a scuba dive for the following day. We ended up making reservations with a dive shop called Divine Divers located a few minutes drive up the road in Nungwi town. Since we only had the one day available to scuba dive we made sure we were going to the best dive sites Zanzibar had to offer. There was no hesitation when asked, we were headed to Mnemba Island which was about an hour and a half boat ride away. Mnemba is a private island with a few luxury bungalows on it and is surrounded by one of the best and most protected reefs in the spice islands. The water is so clear that it has a sky blue color to it, and clouds of fish hover over each coral bommie.

Leaf Scorpionfish

Our first dive site was a drift dive called Wattabomi. Huge coral bommies his moray eels, colorful reef fish and beautiful corals. The sandy spots in between were filled with the slender bodies of garden eels swaying in the current feeding on passing plankton. The current was strong enough that if you wanted to stop and really check something out you had to find a hand-hold. But with the current came exceptionally clear water as well.

Jack diving among clouds of reef fish at Mnemba Island

I was pretty impressed with the first dive site but they had apparently saved the best for last. After a brief surface interval and some delicious fruit we hit the water again at a site called 'Big Wall.' The coral covered wall here dropped down to about 70 or 80ft, where it turned into a sloping sandy bottom which disappeared into the deep blue. I was excited to see such healthy, full coral coverage on the wall itself and a huge number of reef fish. I did see a few bigger fish swimming along the wall, sometimes coming in for a closer look. A school of blue fin trevally darted in among huge school of anthias and chromis. The schools of reef fish were so dense in some areas that I would momentarily lose sight of Jack, even though he was swimming just fifteen feet away.

Nudibranchs!

I felt very lucky to get the opportunity to dive in such a beautiful and exotic place such as this. I told Jack, 'of all the places I've traveled to over the years, Zanzibar is the one that invokes the deepest feeling of exotic mystery island to people.' I imagine not too many Americans will ever get the chance to visit this beautiful underwater paradise. Especially since few know of it's existence. Everyone knows about the amazing animals roaming the African savannas but the incredible underwater world of Africa is a mystery to most.