Diving Pemba Island, Steep Walls on the Pemba Channel and the Reefs Around Misali

Pemba Island sits about 50 kilometres north of Unguja, the main island of Zanzibar, and gets a small fraction of its visitors. Divers are the exception. The island's west coast faces the Pemba Channel, a deep strait between the island and mainland Tanzania, and the reefs along it drop off steeply into that water. Add a scatter of small islands, mangrove creeks and very little boat traffic, and Pemba ends up with some of the least crowded wall and drift diving on the East African coast.

It's a different kind of diving from Unguja's sheltered reefs. Currents run hard in the channel, visibility can swing a long way from one week to the next, and much of the best diving is drift diving along walls. Beginners can dive here, but the island suits people who are comfortable with current, depth and a dive guide who expects them to manage their own buoyancy.

Where the diving is

Most of the diving is on the west and north-west of the island, within reach of the handful of resorts and dive centres along that coast. The walls start shallow, in a few metres of water on the reef top, and fall away steeply. Hard and soft corals, sponges and sea fans cover them, with reef fish thick along the edge and bigger animals, turtles, rays and passing pelagics, in the blue. Sharks show up, but Pemba isn't a guaranteed shark destination, and operators who promise one are overselling.

Misali Island, off the west coast near Chake Chake, is the best-known site. The island and its reefs sit inside a marine conservation area set up in the late 1990s and run with the fishing communities around it, who agreed to limit fishing in exchange for a share of the visitor fees. Divers and snorkellers pay a conservation fee to visit. The reefs on its western side are the main draw, along with clear shallow water that works for snorkellers and nervous divers. Turtles nest on the island's beaches.

The north end of the island, around Kigomasha and Njao Gap, offers some of the stronger current dives, where water pushes between islands and the channel. These are dives to do with a guide who knows the tides.

When to go and what it takes

The diving year follows the monsoon. Most operators run their main season through the drier months, and the calmest seas often come from around October to March. The long rains, usually from about April into May, close some centres and make crossings and dive planning harder. Check with the operator before booking, because conditions and opening months vary.

Pemba isn't a place to arrive and walk into a dive shop. Dive centres are attached to a few resorts, and most guests book diving with their stay. Bring your certification card and logbook, since the stronger current sites will want proof of experience. A reef hook can help on some drifts; ask the centre whether they allow them. Medical support on the island is limited. The nearest recompression chamber is far away, which is a strong reason to dive conservatively, keep safety stops, and carry dive insurance that covers evacuation.

The island behind the reef

Diving also brings visitors into an island with its own politics and economy. Pemba is the poorer and more rural of Zanzibar's two main islands, and its people have a long record of voting for the opposition, as covered in our piece on Pemba Island and Zanzibar politics. Tourism here is small and spread thin, and much of the island still lives from fishing, farming and the clove trade, which has collapsed from its peak. A conservation area like Misali works because local fishers get something from it, and divers who pay the fee are part of that bargain.

For the bigger picture of getting there and moving around, start with the Pemba Island guide and the post on Chake Chake, the island's main town and the usual route between the airport and the west coast resorts. And if you came looking for Pemba in Mozambique, the bay city in Cabo Delgado has its own coast and its own reefs, a long way south across the border.