My wife and me just returned from two weeks of diving from Mozambique, Africa. We did Zavora and Tofa and fell in love with the place – both underwater and on land. In case you plan to dive there too one day, I’ve compiled a personal review that might help you out on a few things.
SPECS
Time: Nov 3rd – Nov 17th 2012
Travel: By plane to Maputo and then 4WD to Zavora/Tofo
There also a direct flight to Inhambane operated by LAM, leaving Johannesburg.
Experience: AOWD/Rescue, 140 dives each
Highlights: Giant Mantas (up to 7m!), Humpback Whale, Hammerhead Shark, Huge Potato Groupers, Guitar Shark, Loggerhead Turtles, Frogfish, Mothfish and huge schools of fish. Sadly no whale shark sightings, although it’s still one of the world’s hot spots.
DIVING VIDEO
Finally managed to finish my diving movie. Hope you enjoy the marine life!
At the end of the movie I included my favourite shots of Giant and Reef Mantas.
Film on YouTube (HD):
Diving in Mozambique, Zavora/Tofo 2012. - YouTube
ZAVORA
First off: It’s been great. Although the first two days have been pretty bad visibilty, it cleared up. Most dives are deep dives at about 34-28metres. Besides really big and nice schools of fish we were lucky to see huge schools of devil rays, reef and giant mantas, big patato groupers, turtles and various small critters. Another highlight has been the humpback whale and single hammer head shark sightings during surface intervall.
We dove with Moz Divers where Jon is operating these nice dive sites. He and his staff (especially Juan) have been very helpful and skilled. The equipment was good, the dive knowledge vast and the deco beers at the bar fun. Can really recommend Mozdivers at Zavora Lodge. Nitrox is chraged extra, but for a reasonable price. Diving is done by zodiac in the launch area, which can be a bit rough. Water temperature was around 21/22 degrees, so you might want to bring at least a 5mm.
We stayed at the Zavora Lodge, which has been good. The apartment rooms are lovely and the view spectacular. Also, it’s comfortable to just walk down into the dive shop and start diving. Only downside has been the food – which took 30-40 min to be prepared and was nothing spectacular. It’s very quiet there and that was fine fort he
We’ve had to pleasure to meet some local ex pats who live there so I can make two recommendations from personal experience:
Thomas and Alex (French couple) who run this luxury ECO lodge is a must-see. We had a lovely dinner there and felt very welcome. They have luxury tents and bungalows, which looked awesome. Although a bit pricier than Zavora Lodge and only accessable by 4WD this gem is worth going to. It’s name is Dunes de Dovela which is about a 20min drive on sand road from Zavora Lodge.
We’ve also had the pleasure to meet Dyon and Sabrina. They’re building a lodge on the dunes on Zavora, which will be open by April 2013. It looked fantastic already in November when we were there. They don’t have a name yet, so stay tuned!
TOFO
After having dived Zavora we were all curious about Tofo. It isn’t all that big, but has a few bars and a local market where you can buy fresh fish (tuna rocked!). We’ve settled for a private house called Burgh House (recommendable, 100$ pP offseason) that has a spacious living room, a grill and 4 separate bedrooms. Its located at Tofinho, a 10 min walk into the town centre.
After checking a few dive Ops (4 in total) we’ve felt most comfortable with Diversity which have 3 boats, good rental gear and lovely staff. We dove with James and Rodriguez, both amazing diveguides.
The launching is done as well with a zodiac. Visibility was quite good (occasionally bad again due to the spontaneous thermo clines). We’ve had the luck to have Reef and Giant Manta (one we saw was over 6 metres!!) sightings on almost every dive. As it was mating season, they were happily buzzing around, chasing each other. We also saw a guitar shark, some frogfish, huge and friendly potato groupers, various stingrays, turtles and and and…
The weather temperature was 1-2 degrees hotter than Zavora, which made quite a difference. Unfortunately, we weren’t blessed with a whale shark sighting. They have seen two while we dove Tofo for a week. A good reason to come back J
If you don’t like self-catering stays, we can really recommend Casa do Mar.
Also every monday/wed/fri there are marine biology lessons at the research centre, which are VERY interesting. They do a lot to understand the megafauna and protect it. Their research shows an 87% decline in the Manta population, which is very concerning. Check this Website for more information: Foundation for the Protection of Marine Megafauna
Andrea and her staff do a wonderful job. I hope they can preserve the underwater world before the Chinese (sadly) fish it all empty. Although they have built solid roads and good hospitals, there fishing rights were given short-sightedly. At the moment, manta fishing is still allowed which is very sad.
RECOMENDATION
Travelling to the north of Mozambique isn’t that easy, but worth every extra mile. The diving is spectacular and the people (both local and ex pats) adorable. If you want to see Giant Mantas, Zavora/Tofo ist he place to go. And whalesharks, everybody assures us.
If you want to know more, please don’t hesitate to ask.
