When talking about scuba diving destinations around the world, you’ll most popularly hear about scuba diving in the Caribbean, Mexico, Belize, Thailand, Indonesia, South Pacific Islands and so on. You’ll rarely hear about destinations in the African continent other than Egypt, Red Sea diving and Shark cage diving in South Africa. Truth is, Africa holds some of the best kept scuba diving secrets in the diving world. Mozambique is one such destination….uncrowded, unspoiled and absolutely spectacular underwater.
Mozambique, Mocambique or, simply Moz, is a Southeastern African country with a beautiful coastline to the Indian Ocean. The diving is world class with the dive sites thriving with rich coral life and offering both smaller marine life like harlequin shrimps and the tiny leaf fish to large marine life including a lot of sightings of whale sharks, manta rays and other shark species.
You would be pleasantly surprised at the the quality, professionalism and experience of dive shops in Mozambique, especially if you imagined a lack of good diving infrastructure. Although mostly PADI dive centers, they cater for all levels of experience including for the beginners who can complete their open water certification here. Its lure though, are the numerous dive spots on offer in Mozambique, most of which have clear, uncrowded waters with abundant marine life. Of them all though, here are a few worth a special mention:
The Bazaruto Archipelago– Accessible from the town of Vilanculos on the mainland as well as from one of the Bazaruto island lodges, the Bazaruto Archipelago has no shortage of dive sites. In fact the marine life is so prolific that you can just walk into the sea off the beach and spend many contented hours snorkeling or scuba diving and not be disappointed. The 2 Mile Reef lying just outside Benguerra Island and Bazaruto is an amazing reef with picturesque swim throughs, walls and pinnacles. This long reef can be dived at various depths down to around 20 meters and offers a wide variety of life including 5 species of turtles, reef sharks, nurse sharks, dolphins, devil rays and big pelagic game fish that visit from the deep. It’s one of the few spots in the world where you could encounter the elusive and nearly extinct dugongs, if you are lucky that is.
Barra Reef – Some rate this reef well above the Red Sea and even the famed Great Barrier reef, for it’s pristine condition and limitless diving possibilities. Wrapped in coral reefs from 300meters to 3000+ meters off the shore in all directions, the crystal blue lagoon is incredibly calm and inviting for as many dives as you would like. Hugely popular for it’s resident whale sharks and manta rays that can be spotted almost all year round, the humpback whales can be an added bonus if you happen to visit between June to October. The coral is spectacular and varied with many arches and tunnels and caves for those who like to play. And to top it off, price wise it’s one of the most reasonable places to dive in the world.
Jangomo Bay– Another stunning area with lots of dives on offer, the Jangomo Bay has coral gardens, walls and deeper reef dives with caves, gullies and drop-offs for the more advanced or adventurous divers. An abundance of marine life in the reefs of this region, you can expect to see nudibranches, small fry, cuttle-fish, mantis shrimp, pipe fish, cleaner shrimp, crocodile fish, scorpion fish, leaf fish, frog fish, stone fish, turtles, white-tip reef sharks and a multitude of reef fish plus cowries and cone shells. Top top it off like other part of Mozambique the dive sites come with a high change to see manta rays and whale sharks glide by.
This is just a tiny glimpse of what this scuba diving wonder has on offer. So, the next time you’re up for a new and exciting scuba diving trip, give Mozambique a thought and who knows, you might be returning there over and over again!
