Full day Snorkeling Trip to Mnemba Atoll

Full day Snorkeling Trip to Mnemba Atoll

Don't feel sad if you're not a diver! A snorkeling trip to Mnemba Island will definitely satisfy all your wishes to experience a magical underwater world! Mnemba provides the snorkeler with the opportunity to view the best fish the Indian Ocean has to offer.

You reach Mnemba Island by boat, mainly from Nungwi, which is a 1h30 drive from Stone Town. It takes about twenty minutes to reach the snorkeling spot from Nungwi. Mnemba Island is a privately owned island with access restricted to guests of the luxurious &Beyond Mnemba Island. Tour guides will drop you off directly at the reef, which lies a few hundred yards from the small island.

Full-day tours (approx. 9am to 4pm) generally include a single snorkeling stop at Mnemba, as well as a lunch break on a nearby beach and a chance to spot dolphins. You will have no trouble booking an excursion on the island. You enter the water from the boat: follow your guide’s instructions.

Mnemba Island is surrounded by an oval reef measuring several miles in diameter, and which is called by some (mistakenly) Mnemba Atoll. Most tour guides will drop you off in the area near the island, famous for its sea beds.

The depth of the water is the same in all the reef areas (↕6-16ft/2-4m). 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 ours 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 since they go to the island’s beaches to lay their eggs at certain times of the year.

Access to Mnemba Island is strictly reserved to guests at the hotel. If you set foot on the beach, you run the risk of paying a large fine. In any case, the island coast guards will warn you if you go within 200 meters of the shore.

This is the most popular snorkeling spot in Zanzibar and dozens of boats go there each day. Watch out for other snorkelers and swimmers when you are in the water.