Mafia Island Diving, Dive Tours To Mafia Island, Dive Sites Mafia Island

Moez the DM at recommends these sites at Mafia Island:

Kinasi Pass: "You can see big fish, such as grouper, cobia, giant barracuda, schools of barracuda, jackfish, small leaf fish, coral fish and very nice corals."
Milimani: "It starts shallow with a wide variety of coral and coral fish and slopes down slowly to the depth of 20 m with high tide. You can see groupers, stingrays, moray eels and cleaning stations."

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Mafia Island Dive Site Descriptions - Inside Chole Bay

Milimani garden: Extremely picturesque with unusual coral formations through which the diver navigates. Spectacular layered coral peaks. This is followed by vast Porites formations that are dome-like, with many lionfish, glass fish and moray eels. From here it slopes away to 21 m with a wide variety of soft and hard corals. This site is good in all conditions as it is only slightly affected by currents; an excellent second dive.

Chole wall: This reef is a westward extension of Kinasi pass and similar condition prevail, although it lies within the protection of the bay.The bigger varieties of pelagic fish are not often seen here , as they prefer to stay outside the natural opening in the reef. The coral is in a pristine state ,the variety is excellent . Be sure to approach really close: many sea turtles are encountered at close quarters.

Kinasi wall: This is a sheltered bank reef, moderately deep and steeply sloping from 8 to 21 metres. It runs south-east:north-west for approximately 800 m and is an excellent dive on a slack tide or with a slight incoming current. It is in superb condition and composed of many species of hard and soft corals and supports a great variety of shoaling and solitary fish and giant clams, seafans, large groupers, and Napolean wrasse; there are abundant reef and pelagic fish, and turtles (especially the hawksbill) are often seen. One of our most popular dive sites.

Kinasi pinnacle: The Pinnacle is a 12 m spire of ancient coral rock (7o57'005S/39o47'850E) lying in the inner Kinasi Pass, close to the last rock island. Maximum depth is 24m at the base of the spire. This is a spectacular dive for the unusual structure and the mixture of reef and pelagic fish in the channel. Home to a very large potato cod and a very large resident moray in a hole on the "whale-back" of rock that slopes off the western side of the stack and many giant batfish.

Kinasi pass: The reef at this excellent dive site is formed of dense, unspolit coral expanses, which have created walls and small dropp offs from about 6-8 meters below the surface , down to the maximum depht of 22m. Marine life abound ,and an outstanding feature of this reef is the presence of the many large groupers which allow divers to approach really close. There are also many stingrays in the area,and a number of moray eels have made their homes here. The reef is also a favourite venue for game fish, which come in from the deeper waters to the east.Some white-tipped reef sharks may be encountered during a dive.Often is a drift-dive.

Kinasi pass right side: Very easy dive, no long and only 14 mt. depht, but many fishes, potato cod,Napoleon,pelagic fish.Usually after Kinasi Pinnacle.

Dindini Wall North: This is a rock wall from 8 m down to 28 m, with caves, caverns, overhangs and an archway; this is the only true rock wall so far discovered and it makes a spectacular and exciting dive. Large groupers, sharks, guitarfish, turtles and basket sponges are features. We have also seen many large pelagics here, including sailfish, very large tuna and dolphins, as the wall lies close to great dropoffs. There is lush growth of sedentary filter feeders and algae on the upper part of the wall; seafans and whip corals lower down.

Dindini wall south: An extension of the same wall, from 9-22 m, this dive is interesting for the many small walls interspersed with shelving reef, offering a great variety of soft and hard corals and more reef fish. There are very many Napoleon wrasse and potato bass. An excellent dive.

Jina pass: This site is also an extension of the Dindini Wall lying at the northern tip of Jina Island, ranging in depth from 8 m to 20 m at the base of a small, vertical wall that has shallow caverns and overhangs and bottoms out in a gravel field. The site is one of our favourites for a rough-mannered, persistent, overfriendly and very large potato bass who dominates every dive.

Jina reef: A gently sloping fringing reef down to 26 m with many brightly coloured soft corals. Home to many mid-size groupers (Flowery Cod) and inquisitive blue-spotted trevally, which are common on all Mafia dives. This site is close to and a continuation of the fringing reef complex near Kinasi Pass.

Kinasi pass entrance: The north and south shoulders of the Pass are fringing reefs with dramatic landscapes; here there are excellent stands of pristine staghorn and large table corals. Shoals of juvenile reef and pelagic fish; the red lunar-tailed groupers are common; many parrotfish. Turtles, rays and small reef sharks are often seen, as well as many of the larger ocean-going fish - kingfish, caranx, barracuda, rainbow runner. Both dive sites - on either side of the Pass - slope to 20 m, where the coral peters out to rubble and sand, about 500 m offshore.