- Open Water course
- TZS 1,315,000
- Water temperature
- 26–30°C
Updated July 2026
Good to know
Good to Know
- Nearly all diving around Zanzibar (Unguja) is by day-boat — there is essentially no shore-entry diving, and this is not a liveaboard destination; liveaboards are rare and used mainly for deeper offshore trips.
- Leven Bank is genuinely advanced-only: strong Pemba Channel currents, open-ocean drift entry, and it can only be dived on a limited number of days each month when tides cooperate — don't expect to just book it on any given day.
- If you want a step up in reef quality and fewer crowds than Zanzibar's north-coast sites, Pemba Island is the natural next stop, but budget a separate short flight or a potentially rough ferry crossing to get there rather than treating it as a day trip.
- Visibility and conditions are noticeably better in the dry months (roughly November–March and July–September/October) than during the April–May long rains, when visibility can drop significantly.
- Almost all dive shops price and quote courses in US Dollars even though the local currency is the Tanzanian Shilling — expect to pay in USD cash, TZS cash, or by card (often with a surcharge of ~3-5% for card payments).
- Open Water course pricing varies noticeably by operator and by whether you do e-learning before arrival (cheaper) or full in-person theory (more expensive) — shop around, as the difference can be over $100.
- Certification dives for most operators happen around Mnemba Atoll, Tumbatu Island, Leven Bank, or the Nungwi/Kendwa reefs, so where you're staying can affect transfer logistics and time in the water.
- If you already want to go beyond Open Water/Advanced, Divemaster internships are offered locally with real in-water hours, but note PADI charges a separate professional membership fee on top of the dive center's own course fee.
- Freediving is available on the island but from a specialist freediving operator rather than as a side-offering from the scuba dive shops — don't assume every PADI center here also teaches freediving.
Sites
Mnemba Atoll (Marine Protected Area, Multiple Named Sites Within It)
- Type
- Reef / sloping wall / drift, marine-protected area
- Level
- All levels, site-dependent (some sub-sites suit beginners, others require advanced certification)
- Location
- Off Zanzibar's northeast coast, roughly 4.5km offshore; reached by boat from Matemwe/Nungwi/Kendwa area
- Best Season
- Year-round; several operators note July–October or November–March as best conditions
- Marine Life
- Turtles (hawksbill and green, near-guaranteed at some sub-sites), reef sharks, bottlenose dolphins, Napoleon wrasse, whitetip reef sharks, groupers, moray eels, frogfish, leaf fish, nudibranchs, the endemic Zanzibar butterflyfish
- Depth Range M
- 2–35+ (varies by sub-site)
Named Sub Sites
- Kichwani – sloping wall, southeast of Mnemba, depth roughly 2–30m, drift/wall dive suitable for snorkelers through experienced divers, known for Napoleon wrasse and occasional whitetip reef sharks
- Wattabomi – gentle slope 6–30m south of Mnemba, coral bommies and plate coral, home to bottlenose dolphins, blue-spotted stingrays, frogfish, stonefish and nudibranchs
- Big Wall – vertical wall east of Mnemba, 18–35m+, advanced/experienced only, strong current drift dive, fewer corals but caves/overhangs and occasional whitetip reef sharks and rays
- Small Wall – sloping wall southeast of Mnemba, 5–30m+, suits both experienced and less experienced divers
- Moray Eel City / 'Aquarium' area – shallow start around 5m, lionfish, scorpionfish and moray eels
- Turtle Reef, Sand Banks, West Banks, Grouper's Rock, Jack Fish Spot, West Gardens – additional named sites within the atoll offering coral gardens, drift dives and turtle/grouper sightings
Leven Bank
- Type
- Offshore seamount / open-ocean drift dive, no reef wall or island shelter
- Level
- Advanced/experienced divers only; drift-diving experience effectively required
- Location
- An undersea seamount in the Pemba Channel, roughly 8 nautical miles (about 15km) north of Zanzibar, reached by boat from Nungwi
- Best Season
- Sources differ — some recommend July–September/October for calmer conditions, others cite November–March; it can only be dived on a limited number of days per month when tides and sea state align
- Marine Life
- Barracuda, tuna, rainbow runners, trevally, honeycomb moray eels, whitetip reef sharks, occasional manta rays and marbled rays, guitarfish, Napoleon wrasse, and (August–September) audible/occasional humpback whales
- Depth Range M
- 12–55 (shallowest point of the mount ~14m, dropping to 30m+ and beyond)
- Notes
- The seabed drops to roughly 200m nearby and to about 800m in the wider Zanzibar–Pemba channel; strong, sometimes unpredictable currents are the norm here.
Tumbatu Island
- Type
- Coral garden reef, gentle slope and a small wall
- Level
- Beginner-friendly overall, with some deeper options
- Location
- Off Unguja's northwest coast
- Best Season
- Year-round; currents here are generally rare/mild, making it a relatively current-free alternative to Mnemba or Leven Bank
- Marine Life
- Seahorses, green turtles, blue-spotted stingrays, leaf scorpionfish, frogfish, ribbon eels, octopuses, moray eels, cuttlefish, nudibranchs
- Depth Range M
- 2–15 (varies by sub-site, e.g. Mwana wa Mwana 5–12m)
Named Sub Sites
- Mwana wa Mwana – gentle sloping reef, 5–12m, noted for exceptional coral variety
- Haunted Wall – small wall, 2–15m, soft corals sheltering nudibranchs and leaf fish, with batfish passing
Nungwi / Kendwa Reef Cluster (North Coast Day-boat Sites)
- Type
- Shallow-to-mid-depth reef/bommie dives
- Level
- Mostly beginner to intermediate; some suit night diving
- Location
- Just offshore from Nungwi and Kendwa beaches on Unguja's northern tip
- Best Season
- Year-round
- Marine Life
- Juvenile reef fish, lionfish, moray eels, nudibranchs, scorpionfish, cuttlefish, crocodile fish, leaf fish, mantis shrimp
- Depth Range M
- 5–25 depending on site
Named Sub Sites
- Kendwa Reef (5–10m) – a nursery reef good for divers and snorkelers alike
- Hunga Reef (10–25m) – rich macro life and soft corals, popular for day and night dives
- Nankivell & Hunga – adjoining sites with large coral bommies and yellow snapper schools
- Renco Bommi (7–14m) – a large coral bommie with abundant marine life
- Coral Garden, Mbwangawa, Turtle Gap, Chakatuni, Haji, Kichafi, Shane's Reef – additional named reef sites in this cluster with generally similar depth ranges and beginner-to-intermediate profiles
Misoli Reef
- Type
- Reef with a dropoff and cave feature
- Level
- Intermediate to advanced
- Location
- East coast, between Mnemba Island and the East Coast reefs
- Best Season
- Year-round
- Marine Life
- Larger groupers often found in the cave area at depth
- Depth Range M
- Up to ~30 at the dropoff/cave
Leon's Wall
- Type
- Coral wall
- Level
- Advanced only
- Location
- Near Mnemba Island
- Best Season
- Year-round, but only diveable when currents are manageable
- Marine Life
- Large numbers of reef fish attracting pelagic hunters; unpredictable currents
- Depth Range M
- Deep, wall-style
Kizimkazi Reef
- Type
- Coral gardens plus deeper wall dives
- Level
- Mixed — beginner-friendly gardens and deeper advanced wall sections
- Location
- Southwestern tip of Unguja, within the Menai Bay Conservation Area
- Best Season
- Calmer seas roughly June–October
- Marine Life
- Dolphins, reef sharks, and occasional manta rays or humpback whales in season
- Depth Range M
- Beginner-friendly shallows down to deeper wall sections
Stone Town Wreck & Reef Sites
- Type
- Wreck diving plus shallow reef sites
- Level
- Beginner (shallower wrecks) to advanced (deeper, penetration dives)
- Location
- In and around Stone Town harbour, Unguja's west coast
- Best Season
- Year-round
- Marine Life
- Reef fish colonizing century-old wreck structures; moray eels, groupers
- Depth Range M
- 12–30 depending on wreck
Named Sub Sites
- Great Northern Wreck – over 100 years on the seabed at around 12m, now a flourishing artificial reef, suitable for beginners
- Royal Naval Lighter – a deliberately sunk vessel at around 30m, for advanced divers
- Pegasus Wreck and Bahari Wreck – additional wreck dives in the harbour area
- Pange Reef, Nyange Reef, Murago Reef, Bawe Island – nearby reef sites also dived from Stone Town
Additional Smaller/near-shore Wrecks
- Type
- Wreck
- Level
- Beginner to intermediate
- Location
- Various points near Mnemba/north coast
- Best Season
- Year-round
- Marine Life
- Coral colonization and reef fish on wreck structures
- Depth Range M
- Shallow to moderate
Named Sub Sites
- King Challenger – an old cargo ship on the seabed off Mnemba Atoll
- MV Zan Air – a smaller wreck close to shore with coral growth and fish life
- Jembwani Wreck – wreck site noted for healthy coral growth and fish
Overall Accessibility
- Summary
- Diving around Unguja (the main island of Zanzibar) is genuinely day-boat accessible, not liveaboard-dependent. All dives are boat dives (there is no real shore-entry diving), but boats depart daily from Nungwi, Kendwa, Matemwe and Stone Town and reach the main sites within roughly 5–45 minutes.
- Citations Note
- Unguja itself has no shore diving and is not a liveaboard destination; Pemba and Mafia are separate islands reached by short flight or ferry, and are best treated as an add-on trip rather than a day trip from Zanzibar.
Supporting Facts
- In Zanzibar, you make only boat dives.
- The marine reserves of Zanzibar Island offer a huge choice of sites to explore and the best dive sites can be reached in 5 to 45 minutes from Fun Divers Zanzibar.
- While a small number of private charter liveaboards are available, the majority of diving is shore-based or from day-boats.
- The journey to Pemba requires a short chartered flight from Zanzibar or a ferry crossing that can be rough, so it's best treated as a dedicated addition to a longer trip rather than a day trip.
Certifying Bodies
PADI
- Notes
- Dominant certifying body on the island. Multiple PADI 5-Star Dive Centers/Resorts operate here.
SSI
- Notes
- Used specifically by at least one dedicated freediving school on the island (see “Freediving Crossover” below), rather than by the mainstream scuba operators.
Typical Course Pricing
Second dive typically costs an extra amount.
- Price
- TZS 394,500
- Course
- Discover Scuba Diving (pool + 1 ocean dive)
Second/extra dive add-on
- Price
- TZS 131,500
- Price
- TZS 1,315,000
- Course
- PADI Open Water Diver (full course, pool + 4 open water dives)
PADI Open Water Diver (e-learning version, pool + 4 dives)
- Price
- TZS 969,100
PADI Advanced Open Water (theory + 5 dives)
- Price
- TZS 1,236,100
- Price
- TZS 368,200
- Course
- PADI Divemaster professional membership fee (paid directly to PADI, separate from operator training fee)
Operator Density
- Estimate
- At least 8-9 distinct named operators identified across the island, so genuinely more than just one or two options.
- Geographic Spread
- Operators cluster mainly around Nungwi, Kendwa, and Matemwe on the north/northeast coast, with Stone Town notable for having comparatively few or no dedicated shops (One Ocean is described as the only dive centre based directly in Stone Town itself).
Named Operators Found
- One Ocean Zanzibar (Stone Town, Matemwe, Kendwa — PADI 5-Star, oldest/first PADI 5-Star on the island)
- Fun Divers Zanzibar (Nungwi — first locally Zanzibari-owned PADI Dive Resort, also has a Pemba base)
- Spanish Dancer Divers (Nungwi — PADI 5-Star)
- East Africa Diving (Nungwi)
- Dive Point Zanzibar (Matemwe — PADI 5-Star Dive Resort)
- Zanzibar Dive Centre (Matemwe/Kigomani)
- Ocean Dive (Matemwe)
- Scubado (Kendwa Rocks)
Freediving Crossover
- Found
- Yes
- Caveat
- This appears to be a standalone freediving specialist rather than evidence that scuba shops broadly cross-sell freediving certification — we did not find PADI dive centers on the island advertising their own in-house freediving courses.
- Description
- There is at least one dedicated freediving-only school on the island (Extreme Blue Water Freediving) running SSI Level 1 and Level 2 freediving courses as multi-day packages, rather than freediving being a routine add-on offered by the mainstream PADI scuba shops.
Typical Pricing
- Price
- TZS 2,011,995
- Course
- SSI Level 1 + Level 2 Freediving (6-day combined package, single student)
- Price
- TZS 1,788,400
- Course
- SSI Level 1 + Level 2 Freediving (6-day combined package, per person for 2+ students)
Seasonality Overview
- Visibility
- Typically 15–30m in the dry season, sometimes exceeding 30-40m at Mnemba; can drop to 10m or less in the rainy season
- Water Temp
- Roughly 26–30°C year-round
- Best Months
- Most operators cite November–March and July–September/October as the strongest windows; April–May (long rains) is generally the weakest period for visibility. Sources vary on the single 'best' month, so treat exact peak-month claims as approximate.
- Whale Shark Note
- Rare directly off Zanzibar itself (much more reliable at Mafia Island); Leven Bank and the wider channel occasionally have humpback whales audible/visible around August–September.
Beyond Zanzibar Note
- Access
- Pemba is reached by a short charter flight from Zanzibar or a ferry crossing that can be rough; Mafia is reached by a roughly 30-minute flight from Unguja or Dar es Salaam. Both are best planned as dedicated add-on trips, typically via dive-and-stay packages, rather than day trips.
- Summary
- Pemba Island and Mafia Island offer what many operators and divers consider superior diving (walls, better-preserved coral, whale sharks at Mafia) but are separate islands, not day-trip accessible from Zanzibar.
Levels Commonly Offered
Levels Commonly Offered
- Discover Scuba Diving (try-dive, non-certification)
- PADI Open Water Diver
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
- PADI Rescue Diver
- Emergency First Response (EFR)
- PADI Divemaster
- PADI Instructor-level training (offered by at least one operator, One Ocean Zanzibar)
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
More About Zanzibar
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.