Coral Kingdom: 6 Days Mafia Island Marine Safari
From - $1,500
per person, sharing
Safari Overview
Mafia Island sits south of Zanzibar, off the Rufiji Delta, and it is the quiet one of the Tanzanian archipelago. Where Zanzibar carries the crowds and Pemba carries the legend, Mafia carries the marine park, the whale sharks and a small string of eco-lodges that have refused to scale. This six-day itinerary is written for divers, snorkellers and honest beach travellers who want a reef holiday without a resort strip.
The Mafia Island Marine Park is Tanzania's first fully protected marine area and one of the best-managed reef systems in the western Indian Ocean. Chole Bay, on the east side, holds the highest fish diversity in Tanzanian waters - over 400 recorded species - and is shallow enough to snorkel and deep enough to dive at the drop-offs. From October to February, whale sharks feed at the northern edge of the island; swimming with them is an in-water excursion that many guests describe as the moment of the trip.
We book you into a small, owner-run lodge at Utende or Chole, arrange every transfer, and schedule the marine excursions in advance so nothing is left to chance on a sleepy island with a single road. Days are unhurried on purpose. Mornings on the reef, afternoons in the shade of a baobab, evenings watching the tide slip back out over Chole Bay. Guests are typically couples, small groups of friends, or divers who have already done Zanzibar and want something quieter.
Getting to Mafia is a short scheduled flight from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar; we book that separately once your international itinerary is confirmed. The package below assumes arrival at Mafia Airport on day one.
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