Destination guide · Coast & islands
Mafia Island
4.7· 440 traveller reviews
Why come
What Mafia Island is known for
Whale sharks
October to March, and they feed close enough to snorkel with rather than chase.
A marine park
Chole Bay is protected, and the reef shows it.
No crowds
Fewer beds on the whole island than a single Nungwi resort strip.
South of Zanzibar and a world away from it: a marine park, a handful of lodges, and a resident population of whale sharks. The Kaskazi monsoon pushes plankton-rich water down from the Rufiji between October and February, and the sharks follow it — this is the East African place to snorkel with them.
Best time: October to February for whale sharks, November to March for diving. How long: four nights, timed to the season if the sharks are why you are coming.
Where it fits
Journeys that visit Mafia Island
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