The islands scattered off Mozambique’s coastline are a welcome glimpse of paradise for every traveller. Equally as breath-taking as the stunning ocean views are the extraordinary sights that lie just below the surface.
Mozambique is renowned for its marine life and the tranquil blue waters that surround them, making it a popular destination for divers seeking their next big oceanic adventure. Rated among the world’s best dive sites by Africa.com, the Mozambican islands of Bazaruto and Quirimbas Archipelago, home to Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort and Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort, are ideal destinations for the ultimate dive experience.
Each location offers its own set of unique experiences, including rare sightings of dudongs and humpback whales that swim among thousands of tropical fish that occupy the protected reefs in Bazaruto, and Spanish mackerel, reef sharks and rays that can be seen 5,5m under the warm waters of the Quirimbas Archipelago.
Both Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort and Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort offer PADI Scuba Diving courses and seasoned Dive Master Antonio Zivane from the former has been taking guests around some of the islands’ premier diving destinations for four years.
Here is a list of his five best ocean adventures to add to your diving bucket list on your next visit to Mozambique
Best Diving in Mozambique
Manta Reef
Anantara Bazaruto Island Resort offers diving excursions to the famous Manta Reef, which requires two dives to complete. Manta Reef is vast and flat, boasting kaleidoscope gardens of sea anemones and coral that attract large numbers of bright clownfish, as well as green turtles and populations of graceful manta rays.
Rainbow Runner Reef
The Rainbow Runner Reef is perfect for beginners and is renowned for its forests of green-tree corals and thrilling opportunities to see Zambezi sharks in their natural habitat.
It’s also a great area for observing other marine life passing along the ocean floor like mantas, spotted eagle rays and kingfish, as well as potato and brindle bass.
Neptune’s Nursery
Only a short boat ride from the luxury of Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort lies a diver’s dream – a selection of 12 unique dive sites featuring untouched marine ecosystems and some of the world’s most beautiful coral reefs, among them Neptune’s Nursery.
Neptune’s Nursery is a 15m-deep flat reef with delicate coral, and a rich hunting ground for game fish and blue spotted stingrays.
Sambi Sambi
Intermediate divers visiting the resort might prefer to tackle Sambi Sambi’s 40m sloping wall, frequented by elusive leopard sharks, as well as green and hawksbill turtles.
Edge of Reason
For seasoned divers, there can be no greater thrill than peering over the 800m sheer drop at the Edge of Reason, which gets its name from the sensations that you feel as the wall plunges into the ocean. Hollows in the ocean floor at this site are home to species such as humphead wrasse, groupers, reef sharks, snappers and unicorn fish.
