Mnemba Atoll

Can you visit Mnemba Island, or only dive its reef?

Mnemba is a triangle of sand and casuarinas about 500 meters across and 1.5 kilometers around, 3 kilometers from Muyuni beach, northeast of Unguja. The islet belongs to a lodge and cannot be visited: non-guests do not land there and stay 500 meters from the beach. The reef, though, belongs to everyone. It forms an oval 7 kilometers by 4 around the island, and the dive sites are on its outer face. The whole area forms the Mnemba marine protected area, managed by the government of Zanzibar with the coastal villages and conservation organizations; a turtle monitoring program has been running there since 1996.

Which Mnemba dive sites should you do: Kichwani, Wattabomi, the Aquarium or the Big Wall?

Kichwani is the classic dive: an entry above the reef flat, a descent along a coral slope from 2 to 30 meters, and an easy drift with the turtles, lionfish under the ledges and stingrays on the sand. Wattabomi, from 6 to 30 meters, is a gently sloping coral garden, the site for try dives and first dives. The Aquarium, from 10 to 24 meters, lives up to its name: schools of fusiliers, snappers and trevallies, Napoleon wrasse and groupers. Finally, the Big Wall drops from 14 or 18 meters to below 35 meters and beyond; it is the dive for experienced divers, in the current, with whitetip reef sharks. A half day links two of them; in four days, you cover them all.

How much is the Mnemba entry fee since September 2025?

Zanzibar's Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries revised the entry fees for its marine areas on September 1, 2025. At Mnemba, a visitor from outside East Africa pays US$10 a day and US$5 for a child aged 5 to 15; a foreign resident of Tanzania pays US$5 and US$3; an East African citizen pays TZS 5,000. A so-called special zone of Mnemba keeps its own rate, US$25 per adult and US$10 per child. The same fee scales apply to Menai Bay, Chumbe and Changuu-Bawe, and to the Pemba Channel Conservation Area. Dive centers collect the fee with the trip, sometimes included in the package and sometimes extra: it is worth asking.

How should you behave with dolphins and turtles at Mnemba?

Mnemba draws a lot of boats, divers and swimmers, and the marine area rules are made for that. Dolphins are not to be chased: the boat does not cut across a pod and nobody jumps in on top of them; you get in the water at a distance and let them come. Turtles graze; do not touch them or follow them too closely. Nor do you touch the coral or rest on it, even for a photo, and sunscreen must be mineral. Divers have one advantage over the snorkeling boats: leaving early, from Matemwe, and being on Kichwani before anyone else.