Snorkeling & Diving in Zanzibar

1. 1

   Tell us your level — first-time snorkeler, beginner, certified or experienced diver — with any certification and the date of your last dive.

2. 2

   We match sites to your level and month: Mnemba or Chumbe for gentle days, the north-coast banks, Pemba or Mafia for more demanding diving.

3. 3

   We book small-group or private boats with dive centers that brief thoroughly, carry oxygen and first aid, and follow conservation-area rules.

4. 4

   Your dives are scheduled around your flights, leaving a safe gap between your last dive and any flight, light aircraft included.

5. 5

   Conservation fees are paid per person per day for each protected area you enter; we list them in your itinerary so nothing comes as a surprise.

Mnemba Island

Shallow gardens and gentle reef edges for snorkelers and new divers; calmest around November and March, busiest mid-morning.

North coast: Leven Bank and Tumbatu

An open-water bank with strong currents for advanced divers, and more varied reefs around Tumbatu for intermediate divers, both reached from Nungwi and Kendwa.

Chumbe Island Coral Park

A privately managed reef sanctuary south of Stone Town, closed to fishing since 1992, where guided snorkelers explore a reef holding at least 90% of East Africa’s recorded hard-coral species.

Pemba and Mafia

Pemba’s channel walls and fast drifts for experienced divers, with Misali for snorkelers; on Mafia, Chole Bay for beginners, outer walls for the experienced and whale sharks in season.

Good to know

• At the time of writing (September 2026), Zanzibar’s Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries charges US$10 per non-East African adult per day (US$5 for ages 5–15) in the Mnemba, Menai Bay, Chumbe–Changuu-Bawe and Pemba Channel conservation areas; Mnemba’s Marine Special Area is US$25, and the Mafia Island Marine Park fee is reported at about US$20 plus VAT.
• Leave a safe interval before flying after diving — dive-medicine guidance suggests at least 18 hours after repeated dives, and many divers allow 24 — which matters for light-aircraft hops to Pemba, Mafia or a safari.
• Minimum ages vary by training agency and dive center: try-dives often start at 8 in a pool and junior certification at 10, while snorkeling suits confident swimmers of most ages.
• Carry dive insurance that includes evacuation, since recompression facilities in the region are limited.
• Use reef-safe sunscreen and a rash vest, never stand on or touch coral, and leave shells where you find them — exporting them without a permit is illegal.
• Menai Bay’s resident dolphins number only about 136 Indo-Pacific bottlenose and 35 humpback dolphins, so we avoid chase-and-jump-in trips and watch from the boat instead.