Mafia Island

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Whale shark encounters, dazzling marine life and gorgeous coral gardens

Mafia Island is a world-class diving destination, home to some of the richest coral reefs on earth. Set apart from the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, Mafia Island is governed by mainland Tanzania. The pristine ocean waters around Mafia are protected by the Tanzanian government, and are filled with an abundance of dazzling marine life.

Mafia Island and its smaller islets (Jibondo, Juani, Chole and Bwejuu) are globally recognised as a critical site for marine biodiversity. The Mafia Island Marine Park covers a massive 822 square kilometres and claims the title of the biggest marine protected area in the Indian Ocean.The concave sheltered waters of Chole Bay are open to diving all year, however the diving sites outside the bay are only open to seasoned divers between October and February.

Mafia Island is home to 17,000 inhabitants across ten villages, who rely on the marine life for income. Therefore, the park is classified as a multi-use area, so that local communities are encouraged to adopt sustainable practices, resources and conservation. A trip to Mafia Island provides world class dive spots, a beautiful insight into diverse marine ecosystems and the humbling opportunity to witness an abundance of marine wildlife thriving in their natural environment.

ACTIVITIES TO DO IN MAFIA ISLAND

CHOLE BAY

Chole Bay lies on the southeast edge of Mafia Island, at 25 km/15 mi off the Tanzanian coastline, overlooking at the Indian Ocean. Mafia Island is considered to be one of the few uncontaminated coastal areas worldwide and an exquisite scuba diving destination.

Chole bay is the part of Mafia island marine park from here you do snorkeling and diving is the one of best place for divers

JIBONDO ISLAND IN MAFIA

Sparsely vegetated Jibondo is less aesthetically appealing than Mafia’s other islands, and its inhabitants are traditionally unwelcoming towards visitors. However, it is intriguing in that it supports a population of about 3000 people despite having no natural water sources.

Jibondo is renowned as a boat-building centre, with much of the wood coming from forests around mainland Kilwa. In Jibondo’s village centre, look for the carved door frame on the mosque, said to come from the old settlement at Kua on Juani.

TURTLE HATCHING IN MAFIA ISLAND

The turtle conservation programme has been one of Mafia’s outstanding successes through the combined efforts of Sea Sense and Mafia Island Marine Park.

Since 2001 over 3,200 nests have been protected to hatching with more than 230,000 hatchlings reaching the sea safely.

Juani Island is one of the main nesting locations for these amazing creatures, particularly the Hawksbill Turtle. We leave Kinasi by boat early in the morning at seven-thirty and enjoy the beautiful early morning trip across Chole Bay to Juani Island. A short bush-walk across the island brings us to the turtle nesting beaches fronting the Indian Ocean (shown below). We carry drinking water and first aid, life jackets and communications on the boats and our Excursion Guide also accompanies you.

SWIM WITH THE SHARKS

Mafia is one of the administrative districts in the Coast Region in Tanzania mainland. The size of the island is 435 km2 with a population of 46,850 as of 2012. One may wonder why the whale sharks chose the Mafia Island as their home, truth is being giants they need a lot of food, and this is plenty in the Mafia Island.

Whale sharks in the South Western Indian Ocean are known to stay longer in Mafia Island waters and acoustic tracking proves that the population is resident in the area, meaning they do not migrate completely outside Mafia waters.

SWIM IN THE HIDDEN LAGOON

Hiding in a marine park, a beautiful lake, this is the best secret of the Mafia island. Swim in a pool full of prone jellyfish and go down into the impossibly blue sea.

Accessible by a 15 minute boat ride from Mafia Island, the lagoon is a secret treasure within a treasure. On a boat ride with and from the lake looking for monkeys in the trees! The side of the island where the lagoon is accessed comes into sight after passing through the clear, shallow waters between Chole and Juani.

MARIMBANI SAND BANK

Marimbani Sand bank is the perfect place to relax and find comfort on the soothing sand of Marimbani Sandbank . With just a 20-minute boat trip away from the public beach, you’ll arrive at the half moon shaped sand bank that is approximately 700 meters long during low tide.

This treasure is only accessible during low tide because the ocean waters magically submerge it during the high tide as if it was only a dream.

MAFIA ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

At the northernmost point of the island, you will find a preserved lighthouse. Everyone we talk about gives different dates when they were created in order to know what’s right… but it’s old!

This is an area of the island that most visitors don’t normally visit. You can reach there by tuk-tuk or by a taxi or you can hire your very own piki-piki (motorbike). There is also an untouched beach in the north of the island where you can go swimming.