When we first visited spice island, Zanzibar, we were not scuba diving certified and we snorkeled the beautiful warm waters near our resort. We took an excursion made up of a mixed boat of divers and snorkelers and after their dive one Italian lady looked at us and asked, “why don’t you get certified?” What we saw, and this lady’s encouragement influenced us and shortly afterwards we did our open water certification in Canada.
Now, having been given a second chance to explore these waters we were excited to don dive gear and explore the Indian Ocean from a different perspective.
We created our diving mini vacation by adding three nights to our Tanzanian safari. This allowed for two days of diving as we had a late flight out on day 4.
We stayed at the Matemwe Lodge, which is close to the famous Mnemba Atoll known for excellent diving. While we are frequent divers in Florida and have done many trips to the Caribbean, we looked forward to seeing the diverse species that we would find here in the Indian Ocean.
For one, we would actually see lionfish in their natural habitat. If we could, we would certainly warn them about swimming into our neighborhood where they are unwelcome and hunted (for good reason as they threaten the local species).
Matemwe Lodge
Arriving at the resort, we could see that it was fairly empty. We later heard that they would be soon closing for renovations. We could see a little love was needed around the resort and we hope they reopen soon.
The individual cabin units were large and equipped with thatch roofs. Our unit opened to a fantastic view of the Indian Ocean. We marveled at seeing the tide come in over the shallow shoreline.
This side of Zanzibar island has a long shallow coastline with the tide raising the water level 4 meters (5 with a full moon they said). Our view of a long beach would disappear in minutes as the tide rushed in bringing water right up to the rocky shore just feet from our unit.
There was no swimmable beach here. The rocky shoreline was full of sea urchins. The hotel offered a reef walk which we did on the last day and immediately had some misgivings.
Reef walk
At low tide you can walk 500 meters out in knee to waist deep water to the reef. We saw pipefish, eels, and sea snakes in the shallow waters but also about a million urchins, including the long spine poisonous variety.
It was a treacherous walk and the possibility of stepping on a hidden urchin in the sea grass or sand or worse yet losing your footing on the uneven, rocky bottom and falling into these sharp spiny creatures could be serious! The sharp spines could go through the soles of our beach shoes said the guide (once halfway across!).
He elaborated that you can’t pull the spines out as they are too soft and would break. The locals use unripen papaya on the open sore for three days which somehow promotes the body’s ability to expel the spines.
We were extremely careful as we contemplated the repercussions of missing our return flight and finding medical care in Zanzibar. Fortunately, we made the treacherous allez-retour in two hours without incident.
Bush babies
Another interesting touch at the Matemwe Lodge was the resident bush babies. They had learned to come for bananas each evening at 6:30 pm at the bar.
They even encouraged us to feed them by hand. Not something we would normally encourage but these babies had learned to expect these meals for many years and would even bring their baby’s over to teach them passing the tradition from generation to generation. Hope they feed them during the renovations.
Elephant shrews
While on safari we had poked some fun at our guides. They always asked what our expectations were and what we wished to see. They were undoubtedly expecting the standard ‘lions’ answer that most guests would give. We threw them off by asking to see the elephant shrew, a shy and hard to find member of the ‘little five’.
Well, much to our surprise the resort actually had a few of these on the grounds and we walked the path numerous times to and from our cabin spotting them along the way. My husband had even gone off path into the bushes to try and get some pictures but these shy creatures were quick and elusive. We laughed and laughed. We stopped laughing however when the lodge manager showed us a picture of a green mamba (very poisonous snake!) he had also seen on the property. Yikes!
Diving Zanzibar’s Mnemba Atoll
With only two days of diving, we signed up for the two boat dive package with One Ocean Dive Center which had a small counter at the water sports desk at the Matemwe Lodge.
We had hoped that they might leave from our beach, but this was not the case. The shop sent a taxi to collect us and brought us to their dive center for fitting rental equipment. With the limited baggage allowance on the safari bush flights the only personal equipment we brought was our prescription masks, computers, and my camera!
The dive operation was hectic! Dozens of divers and snorkelers were clamoring about for fittings and signing waivers. We were lucky to get an excellent divemaster, Hassan, who was assigned to the two of us along with one additional advanced diver from the Netherlands.
Once fitted, everyone climbed into a truck with two rows of benches in the back, and we were hauled off to Muyuni Beach in front of the famous Mnemba Atoll. From the beach a chaotic scene ensued. Dozens of taxi boats transported groups of divers to one of the many wooden dive boats. Everyone was yelling in Swahili, and it was a wonder that anyone knew where to go!
We just went with the flow, and it all seemed to work. The dive boats were converted fishing vessels and lacked the usual dive boat setup like a platform or dive ladder, but they made it work. The crew on board took care of everything making it a concierge diving experience.
That said, the boat had no real jump off point and you had to either climb up onto the slippery wooden rail to jump off, or roll over backwards.
One time, our dive took us off too far from the dive boat and they sent a small motorized rowboat to collect us. We had to climb up over the wooden side to get in! Not easy but taking off the weights and the BCD in the water and with a little help we managed. Still, it’s a miracle we had as few bruises as we did!
Logistics aside, the dives themselves were wonderful. We saw a lot of creatures that were new to us and even the familiar ones had different markings and colors.
The Aquarium and Kichwani dive sites
Day 1 we dove The Aquarium and Kichwani sites. These were right in front of the Mnemba Atoll and we enjoyed both. With 80ft viz and slightly chilly waters 78F we appreciated our rental 5mm shorty.
Some very cool sightings included a crocodilefish, leaf scorpionfish, a huge octopus, nudibranchs, and many types of anemonefish.
Wattatomi and Small Wall dive sites
Day 2 we returned to the same beach by taxi to meet up with Hassan who was our private guide this time. We did the Wattatomi and Small Wall dive sites in the same general area, but the topography was quite different.
We saw many colorful leaf scorpionfish, alligator pipefish, more octopus and some gobies that were new to us.
Lots and lots of varied scorpionfish and a snake eel and many colors and varieties of sea stars.
One sea star had one long arm and four tiny ones. We later learned that it actually reproduces by shedding an arm that later grows into a full starfish. Isn’t nature amazing?
While we enjoyed the dives, I could not really imagine doing a full week of diving with the setup here and we felt satisfied after the two days we had. If staying longer one might want to do some wrecks over by Stone Town or also explore the north side of Zanzibar.
Conclusion
Heading back to the resort we could not help but notice the kids without shoes and people in rags living without running water in what looked like abandoned buildings. This was all just outside the high stone wall surrounding the lush gardens of the resort. It made us sad to see all the poverty and struggle and we had not remembered this from our first visit to Zanzibar.
Everyone we met diving and at the hotel were happy and welcoming. We think these are the lucky ones content to have good jobs considering the 40+% unemployment. People were out hustling trying to make a living everywhere selling slices of watermelon or collected firewood. Whatever they could get their hands on. At low tide, women were walking in the shallow water amongst the treacherous sea urchins every day hoping to find scallops or mussels for a meal. A hard life.
We left all our spare shoes and various clothes and toiletries behind with the hotel manager who promised to find people who could use them. Still, it made us once again realize and appreciate the life of privilege we live. How grateful we are.