Diving Holidays In Zanzibar
Zanzibar is an ideal destination for a luxury scuba diving holiday, combining world-class underwater experiences with exceptional comfort and style. The island's warm waters are home to vibrant coral reefs and a wide variety of marine life, including tropical fish, turtles, dolphins, and occasionally whale sharks. Exclusive resorts and boutique hotels offer beachfront suites, private pools, and personalized service. Our partner dive centres offer a tailored experience, from private dive boats to expert guides, making every dive seamless and memorable.
With over 30 dive sites, including reef, wall, and wreck diving, Zanzibar is more than just a beach island where you can relax. The strong currents of Levan Bank are a haven for big game fish such as kingfish, trevally and tuna. Don’t forget that Zanzibar is also one of the world’s premier locations for sighting the ocean's biggest fish, the whale shark. Mnemba Atoll is a 7km reef that is a conservation success story. In the months from September to December, turtles, dolphins, and whale sharks can be seen.
The Diving Off Zanzibar's North
There are around 30 dive sites for divers at all levels of experience and these can be dived day or night. From any of the hotels in the north, a pick up can be arranged that takes up to 30 minutes to the little town of Nungwi and boats depart from Nungwi to the following areas:
Mnemba Atoll: This marine protected area is one of the big names for diving in Zanzibar. An attractive off-shore spot with amazing underwater marine life. Reefs are home to a wide variety of animals, from the tiniest shrimp to huge turtles. Watch out for the dragon moray eel and the Djibouti Spanish dancer, the world's largest nudibranch. (full-day boat trip: normally 2 guided dives)
Tumbatu: Enjoy a 30-minute sail on a traditional dhow, quicker by speedboat, to the wonderful island of Tumbatu. The island is surrounded by a ring-shaped coral reef where you can dive or snorkel. You may see majestic turtles, giant groupers, morays, rays, dozens of colourful sea slugs, and much more... In season there is the chance of swimming with the giant whale sharks (half-day boat trip: normally 2 guided dives)
Local Dives: There are lots of dive sites for divers at all levels that can be reached between 5 and 30 minutes by dhow or speedboat. (half-day boat trip: normally 2 guided dives)
The Diving Off Zanzibar's South East
While you can reach the Mnemba Atoll on full day trips from the south-east coast most diving is done in the following areas:
Paje & Jambiani: Twice-daily diving excursions can be arranged to the outer coral reefs (weather dependent). Dive and snorkel Jambiani lagoon, where seahorses and stingrays are the main attractions.
Dongwe & Bwejuu: For the adventurous diver, diving here offers gentle reef dives up to the more challenging Blue Wall.