Around Dar es Salaam we have about 15 attractive dive sites, going from walls, to nice coral patches. Most dives we do as drift dives, which means the boat is following a surface marker-boy so we don’t have to swim back to the boat.

Big T

This is the most famous dive side. It is located about 14 to 15 km from the DYC south of the Fungu Yasin reef., and stretches from the north to south/east. At 15 meters depths it has wonderful corals. Swimming to north/east we come to a wall going down to about 50 meters. Particularly, big fish are seen along this wall.

Big-T is a very large reef and there are many entry points. The most exiting one is the far eastern point. But only experienced divers should go there, because there is usually a strong current and depth starts at 18 meters going down to 60 meters.

Fungu Yasin

This reef stretches from north to south and is divided into a inner and outer part.

It is located east of the Fungu Yasin patch, right below the breakers.

The outer part is build like a step. On the top it is about 14 meters. Passing the step to the east is a wall going down to 28 meters. Particular at the outer part, big fish and big school of smaller fish like – snappers etc.- can be seen.

The inner part, Poseidon is excellent for calm diving if outside in the channel is a lot of current. At the top it is about 14 meters and the deepest point it 25 meters. It is a very long reef given a lot of opportunities for novice and experience divers. Turtles and a lot of reef-fish are frequently seen.

Outer shark

A reef with a lot of current, but very beautiful. It is shallow, at the southern end about 11 to14 meters and there are a lot of table corals. The northern end is about 18 to 25 meters with sand and corals mixed.

Inner shark

As the name already indicates, this reef is between Outer-shark and Mbudya Island. It has a large rock in the middle which is full of horned corals. Around horned corals you usually see a lot of small reef fish. North/West of the Rock is a large coral field stretching to the north. Divers are cautioned to watch their decompression time, as the reef is about 20 to 24 meters deep.

Octopus

We coming closer to the DYC.  This reef is in the middle between Mbudya and Bongoyo about 3 km to the east. It is very shallow on the top (about 10 meters), but full of wonderful corals. To the east and to the west there are walls. Again it is excellent site for new divers. Usually the current is not so strong. But nerveless, you can see a lot of fish and even turtles.

South east Bongoyo

The Name explains the location. When you are on the eastern side of  Bongoyo you see a sandy patch right in the middle. Stay about 1.5 km to the east at the southern end of this patch (north is only sand).

It is a small reef with a little drop of to 18 to 20 meters. We use it, when the weather is not so promising and we want to avoid a long boat ride. This reef is also suitable for training.

As it is close to the Island you only find small fish. Sometimes visibility is limited.
 

Gap

You all know the Gap between, Seacliff and Bongoyo, going to the east there is a big breaker on the Bongoyo side. Right of the end of this breaker is the reef. Because it is very close, we usually do our night dives there. Coral and drop of is similar to –South East Bongoyo-

Kankardia

About 4 km east of the Seacliff Hotel, is this coral patch. Only about 15 meters depth, but full of wonderful corals. This is a very colourful reef. Particular with good visibility when the sun reach the bottom. There are always plenty of fish, but also octopus or cuttle fish can be seen.

Schlammerstadt

Last but not least, we do have a wreck. The Schlammerstadt a former Norwegian ship, loaded with cement bags, caught fire in the harbour and was sunk about 3 km east of the Tulip Hotel. It lies at only 10 meters depth and you can still see the cement bags from the top. The wreck is covered with soft corals and is not very big. Therefore we only dive it once a year.

But there is plenty of life around the wreck