Mafia Island

Mafia is the Indian Ocean as it was before mass tourism. It has no large resorts, very few cars and a handful of small lodges around Chole Bay. What it has instead are some of the healthiest reefs on the East African coast, protected within the Mafia Island Marine Park — Tanzania's first marine park, established in 1995 — and, in season, one of the most rewarding whale shark encounters anywhere.

It suits divers, snorkellers and travellers who want genuine quiet after a safari. It suits less well those looking for long white beaches and a lively atmosphere, which Zanzibar offers instead.

Each year, whale sharks — the largest fish in the world, and completely harmless to people — gather in the plankton-rich waters off Kilindoni, on Mafia's west coast. Encounters usually happen in calm, shallow water close to shore, so you snorkel alongside them rather than dive.

The season runs roughly from October to March, with the most reliable sightings typically between November and February. Encounters are regulated, with limits on boats and swimmers around each shark. We work only with operators who follow the code of conduct, because crowding and chasing is what spoils these encounters elsewhere.

Inside Chole Bay, sheltered coral gardens offer easy snorkelling and diving for beginners, while the outer reef walls suit more experienced divers. Turtles, groupers, rays and an astonishing variety of reef fish are common, and turtles nest on some of the island's beaches.

Just across the bay, Chole Island holds the atmospheric ruins of a nineteenth-century Omani and Swahili trading town, slowly being reclaimed by giant baobabs and fig trees. A walk there, followed by a dhow sail back across the bay at sunset, is one of the island's quiet pleasures.

Mafia is reached by short scheduled flights from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, landing at the small airstrip in Kilindoni, from where lodges transfer you across the island to Chole Bay. Three nights is enough for the whale sharks and a day on the reef; five lets you settle into the island's rhythm.

Because it lies close to the southern parks, Mafia pairs beautifully with a safari in Nyerere, Ruaha or Mikumi, or with a few days on Zanzibar or Pemba. Tell us when you would like to travel and we will time your stay with the whale shark season.