Zanzibar Snorkeling Diving Full Day Tour Mnemba Atoll

Our Zanzibar Snorkeling Diving Full Day Tour Mnemba Atoll offers you a snorkel safari and Scuba diving at Mnemba Atoll (Mnemba Island Marine Reserve) – the most popular dive site of Zanzibar, where there is a great variety of marine life, including a resident pod of dolphins! 

The tour typically lasts 4 to 8 hours and includes guided snorkeling in the Marine Conservation Area, dolphin watching, and often a seafood lunch on the beach.

Location & Geography: Situated off the coast of Matemwe, the reserve features a roughly triangular island with a 1.5 km circumference, surrounded by an expansive oval reef system, often referred to as an “atoll”.  Mnemba Island is reached by boat, mainly from Nungwi Beach and Muyuni Pier.

The area offers world-class, shallow-water snorkeling and diving (including wall and drift dives). It takes about 20 minutes to reach the snorkeling spot from Muyuni Pier, and 1 hour from Nungwi. Divers and snorkelers share the same boats. This allows snorkelers to spend a day with their diving partners in the waters off Zanzibar Island and Mnemba Island. 

Snorkelers and divers receive the same service and can enjoy an underwater experience together. We provide transfers from all the hotels in Pongwe Bay, Kiwengwa, Pwani Mchingani, Matemwe, Uroa, Chwaka, Nungwi, Paje, Jambiani, Michamvi, Kizimkazi, Stone Town, Mangapwani, and Chuini. 

Our boats take both scuba divers and snorkellers for 2 dives a day with a surface interval spent on the boat, where a delicious snack made of seasonal fruit and traditional Swahili food can be enjoyed. 

0800 Hours – 0900 Hours: Departure time, and we are back after 5-6 hours between 1300 Hours and 1400 Hours, depending on the tide and sea conditions. Because of the tide, we usually gently cruise one way on our traditional dhows and travel the other way by bus on an excellent road.

Snorkelers float above the beautiful coral gardens of the sea, watching schools of fish such as parrotfish, angelfish, and butterflyfish, schools of shy, hidden seahorses in the coral, the cute yet ugly frogfish, eels, and rays.

For the diver with a sharp eye, pipefish, leaffish, Zanzibar butterflyfish, nudibranchs, green turtles, playful bottlenose dolphins, giant groupers, barracuda, moray eels, stingrays, and kingfish can be found.

Zanzibar Snorkeling Diving Full Day Tour Mnemba Atoll Itinerary (Approximate Times)

0800 Hours – 0900 Hours: Hotel pickup and transfer to Matemwe Beach (usually, a 1-hour drive)
0900 Hours  – 0930 Hours: Briefing, equipment fitting (masks, fins, snorkel), and boat departure from Matemwe
0930 Hours – 1000 Hours: Boat ride to Mnemba Atoll Marine Park, with high chances of dolphin viewing near the reef
1000  Hours – 1230 Hours: Snorkeling at two different spots, exploring vibrant coral reefs with tropical fish
1230  Hours – 1400 Hours: Visit the “disappearing” sandbank (tide permitting) for relaxation, with a packed lunch or seafood BBQ served
1400  Hours – 1500 Hours: Final, relaxing, boat ride back to the shore.
1500 Hours  – 16:00 Hours: Return to the hotel

What to Bring

✓ Swimwear and a towel
✓ Cash for tips or personal expenses
✓ Sun protection (biodegradable sunscreen, hat, and sunglasses)
✓ Waterproof camera or phone case for underwater photography

Important Information

✓ Best Time to Visit: The dry seasons from June to October and December to February offer the best water clarity (up to 30 meters visibility)
✓ What to Bring: Swimwear, a towel, a hat, reef-safe sunscreen, and a waterproof camera.✓ Mnemba Island itself is a private island; tours take place in the surrounding marine reserve and sandbanks, as landing on the island’s private beach is strictly forbidden for non-guests

Zanzibar Snorkeling Diving Full-Day Tour Mnemba Atoll is a sea safari excursion (0900 Hours to 1500 Hours) and is a great day out, not to be missed. It includes world-class snorkeling at the famous Mnemba Island reef, a marine conservation area, followed by a scrumptious seafood barbecue on the idyllic Muyuni beach.

Mnemba Island is 3.2 km/ 2 miles off the northeast coast of Zanzibar Island (Unguja). You reach Mnemba Island reef by boat, mainly from Nungwi (Ras Nungwi) – a fishing village and dhow building centre, which is a 1 hour and 30 minutes drive from Stone Town.

It takes about 40 minutes to reach the Mnemba Island reef snorkeling spot from Nungwi. Mnemba Island is privately owned and accessible only to guests of the luxurious AndBeyond Mnemba Island.

We drop you off directly at the Mnemba Island reef, which lies a few hundred yards from Mnemba Island. Mnemba Island reef is a Marine Conservation area, where you can admire corals and tropical fish that many of us have only seen in an aquarium, sea turtles, and dolphins.

Diving at Mnemba is stunning. On the inside, it’s like being in a giant aquarium, and the outside offers excellent wall and drift dives. The surrounding waters and the area around Mnemba Island are important breeding grounds for Green Turtles, while a host of migratory wading birds use the island as a secure roost.

The fragile coral reef ecosystems support countless fish species and microorganisms, while gigantic Whale Sharks, Humpback Whales, and dolphins frequent the deeper waters. What makes Mnemba Atoll different from Diving Town is the abundance of schooling fish: Striped Snapper, Surgeon Fish, and up to ten green Turtles can be seen on one dive.

If you look hard enough, you will find the masters of disguising the Frog Fish, who camouflage themselves so that they are not seen by predators.

The depth of the water is the same in all the reef areas (6 -16 feet/ 2 – 4 meters). On the sea bed, look out for blue starfish, Red-knobbed starfish, or the fearsome crown-of-thorns starfish, a poisonous, coral-eating species. Green turtles can occasionally be seen at this spot.

0730 Hours: This Zanzibar sea safari departs from Stone Town (or your pick-up location in Zanzibar upon request), followed by a 1.5-hour trip on surface roads along the stunning north-east coast of Zanzibar to Nungwi (Ras Nungwi) – a fishing village and dhow building center.

0900 Hours: Depart Nungwi on a boat ride.

1000 Hours: After 45 minutes to an hour by boat, we dive in the waters around Mnemba Island reef, a protected natural park, where you can admire corals and tropical fish that many of us have only seen in an aquarium, sea turtles, and dolphins. Dolphin sightings are common.

Two amazing snorkel sites await you at Mnemba, each very different from the other, from coral gardens to a steep reef that disappears into the abyss. The depth of the water is the same in all the reef areas (6 -16 feet/ 2 – 4 meters).

You will find yourself above a reef of varying quality (some areas are wonderfully preserved, while others seem damaged by the area’s high visitor numbers). The reef is protected and fishing is forbidden, so the density of fish here is higher than in many other places in Zanzibar.

In turn, you will come across shoals of dozens of Moorish idols, snappers, clownfish in their anemones, and a host of other species. On the sea bed, look out for blue starfish, red-knobbed starfish, or the fearsome crown-of-thorns starfish, a poisonous, coral-eating species.

Green turtles can occasionally be seen at this spot, as they come to the island’s beaches to lay their eggs at certain times of the year. Snorkeling is done in 2 locations over about 1.5 hours – each swim lasts about half an hour.

1300 Hours: After your second snorkeling trip, you are heading from Mnemba Atoll to the opposite side, an area called Muyuni Beach. Here, you can enjoy your lunch with fruit and drinks, mouthwatering seafood, and a mixed grill barbecue.

You will have ample time after your lunch to relax on this beautiful, secluded beach before your trip continues with a sail back to Nungwi. The excursion ends with a transfer back to the hotel/ residence in Zanzibar.

Zanzibar Snorkeling Diving Full-Day Tour Mnemba Atoll Rates Include:

✓ Drinking water 
✓ Hot and cold beverages
✓ Traditional dhow sailing 
✓ Light snacks on the boat
✓ Divemaster or snorkel guide
✓ Beautiful marine life and corals
✓ Amazing beach with stunning views
✓ Snorkel guide, towels, and equipment 
✓ Soft gear (wetsuit, mask, snorkel, and fins) 
✓ Delicious seafood and mixed grill beach Barbeque & Snorkeling at Mnemba Atoll, including Marine park fees 

Notes

Zanzibar Snorkeling Diving Full-Day Tour Mnemba Atoll Rates Do Not Include:

* Drinks
* Tips or gratuity
* Travelers Insurance
* Communication charges
* Minimum of 1 person required
* Visas, international airfares, and airport taxes; meals
* Sightseeing not included in the package; optional activities
* Personal expenses such as transfers to/ from the airport (supplement airport transfer cost applies for tours starting from the airport

Mnemba Island is an atoll set just off the northeast coast near Matemwe. Diving at Mnemba is stunning. On the inside, it’s like being in a giant aquarium, and the outside offers excellent wall and drift dives.

The island itself is a breeding ground for turtles, and they are often seen gliding by along with dolphins, huge schools of fish, whale sharks, and humpbacks when in season. What makes Mnemba Atoll different from Diving Town is the abundance of schooling fish: Striped Snapper, Surgeon Fish, and up to ten green Turtles can be seen on one dive.

If you look hard enough, you will find the masters of disguise, the Frog Fish, who camouflage themselves so that they are not seen by predators. This dive is one not to be missed if you are planning a dive trip to Zanzibar.

Mnemba Atoll is a popular scuba diving site, with a wide variety of coral species and associated marine life, and offers good sightings of larger marine life such as turtles and dolphins. Calm conditions are most frequent in September and October, though visibility is at its optimum in January.

Mnemba Island is a 60-minute drive from Stone Town across the main Zanzibar Island, the Island can be easily reached if you will be staying at the nearest hotel, the Matemwe Beach Village, which is a twenty-minute boat crossing from this hotel. Mnemba Island and its surrounding reefs have been declared a Marine Conservation Area.

Mnemba is an idyllic island within a marine reserve that comprises four distinct habitats, home to a diverse array of Indian Ocean wildlife.

* Encounters with three species of dolphin
*  Approximately 600 species of coral reef fish
* Seasonal viewing of humpback whales (July to September)
* Migratory and resident shore birds feed and roost on the Island
* Excellent opportunities to view whale sharks (the world’s largest fish)
* Green Sea Turtles can be seen laying their eggs on the beaches between December and May
* Nesting place of threatened green turtles (monitoring and protection project has been underway since 1996)

1. The best places for snorkeling in Zanzibar?

Top spots for a snorkeling excursion in Zanzibar include Mnemba Island. The visibility off Mnemba Island is usually fantastic. Chumbe Island Coral Park is close to Stone Town, Prison Island (Or Changuu Island), Nungwi Beach, and Tumbatu Island.

2. Best Dive Sites in Zanzibar?

Kizimkazi in the South coast of Zanzibar, Jambiani, Paje, Bwejuu, and Dongwe in the South East coast of Zanzibar, Mafia Island (Mafia’s Marine Park), Pemba Island, and Mnemba Atoll (Mnemba Atoll Marine Reserve).

3. Where are the Mnemba Atoll (Diving & Snorkeling) sites in Zanzibar?

Mnemba Island is 3.2 km/ 2 miles off the northeast coast of Zanzibar Island (Unguja). It is located on the northeast side of Zanzibar, right across from the town of Matemwe.  You reach Mnemba Island reef by boat, mainly from Nungwi (Ras Nungwi) – a fishing village and dhow building centre, which is a 1 hour and 30 minutes drive from Stone Town.

It takes about 40 minutes to reach the Mnemba Island reef snorkeling spot from Nungwi.

Mnemba Island is privately owned and accessible only to guests of the luxurious AndBeyond Mnemba Island. We drop you off directly at the Mnemba Island reef, which lies a few hundred yards from Mnemba Island.

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