Mozambique Island Diving

Pemba · Mozambique

Moderate10 daysAfrica~£2,000 est.

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Overview

Northern Mozambique is the Indian Ocean as it was decades ago. The Quirimbas Archipelago strings thirty-odd islands and sandbanks down a barely dived coast where coral walls drop off the continental shelf and dhows under lateen sails remain the working transport. Base at Pemba or on Ibo Island, a hauntingly faded Portuguese-Swahili trading town, and dive channels swept clean by big tides: turtles, reef sharks, huge groupers and, in season, humpback whales passing offshore. Sailing between islands by dhow and sleeping at sandbank camps is the mode of travel that makes the trip; further south, Ilha de Mocambique's 16th-century Fort Sao Sebastiao anchors a UNESCO-listed island town that deserves two full days. Logistics demand patience - flights via Pemba or Nampula, boat transfers on tide time, a cash economy - and Cabo Delgado's security situation must be checked against current advice, with itineraries booked through operators holding genuinely current local knowledge. June to October brings dry weather and clear water, with humpbacks roughly July to October; cyclone season runs December to March. Ten days of diving, dhow passages and island lodges is about £2,000 excluding flights, and malaria precautions are essential.