Mombasa area reefs......
Mombasa is the gateway to the Kenyan coast and has some of the best four and even five star dive sites in Kenya. The area to the north of Mombasa is Bamburi, a national marine park encompassing some of the best coral gardens in Kenya. Buccaneer Diving will take you to all these dive spots off the Mombasa Coast and make sure that you get the best out of your dives.
In the calmer season, which runs from September to March, we dive these sites two or three times a day. The huge range of dive areas open to us means that we are able to offer a diverse range of diving activities, from wreck diving, drift reef diving, to deep dives and spectacular night dives. Our superb diving boats and unparalleled local knowledge allows us to boast a far wider selection of dive sites than any other diving school in the area.
Mombasa Marine Park.
Situated an easy ten minute boat ride from the main Bamburi Hotel strip, the five buoyed up dive spots are within the marine park. This area abounds with tropical fish, with turtles being seen on most dives, and small white tip reef sharks on occasional dives.
Depth: 10-20 metres.
Rating: All
divers.
Mtwapa drop
off .
This dive spot is situated slightly north of the Bamburi buoys, but still within an easy boat ride of the Bamburi strip. This dive is slightly deeper, and has on average much larger fish. One is most likely to see large grouper, red snapper and pelagic fish on this dive.
Depth: 12-27 metres
Rating: More experienced diver
Coral
Gardens.
Situated within the lagoon this dive spot is ideal for beginners, inexperienced divers and 'rusty' divers requiring a refresher. Flat calm and shallow, the dive spot still has an enormous amount of marine life. This combination of shallow water and fish often proves popular to the photographer.
Depth: 7 metres
Rating: All
Nyali.
The Nyali dive spots are situated south of the Bamburi Strip, but are still within the Marine Park. This dive spot is similar to the Bamburi buoys in both depth and marine life.
Depth: 10-20 metres.
Rating: All divers.
Globe
Star.
The remains of a grain carrying cargo ship that hit a sand bank in the early seventies, the globe star is probably Mombasa's best wreck dive. Although most of the superstructure has been salvaged, below the waterline one can still see the engine block, masts, the lower deck and the propeller. This area also teems with Moray eels, lionfish, Parrot fish and Pelagics.
Depth: 7-10 metres.
Rating: All divers.
Shelley
Corner.
Shelley Corner is a twenty five minute boat ride south of the Marine Park. An easy dive Shelley Corner is ideal for both the experienced and not so experienced diver. Shoals of fish, moray eels and turtles are common to this area. Shelley corner is an idea location for the second dive of a two dive day, as it is surrounded by many interesting deep dive spots.
Depth: 10-20 metres.
Rating: All divers.
Map
The Wall 1.
The Wall 1 is a twenty minute boat ride south of the Marine Park. A sheer wall that drops from 12 metres to thirty metres, the wall is an ideal location to attain neutral buoyancy, and just drift dive. The sudden change of depth attracts both large and small fish which combined with the spectacular drop makes for an excellent dive.
Depth: 10-30 metres.
Rating: More experienced divers.
The Wall 2 **
The Wall 2 is also a twenty minute boat ride south of the Marine Park, however is the second part of the wall which is dived according to the current. This dive is similar to the Wall 1 but the wall drops off deeper and there is the added attraction of discovering an enormous sea anchor that is speculated to have been dropped by the huge ocean going dhows that plied the Mombasa- Middle East route during the earlier part of the century.
Depth: 10-30 metres.
Rating: More experienced divers.
Birthday
reef**
This stunning dive is Buccaneers' best kept secret! Starting at 25 metres & going down to well over 50 metres, Birthday reef is only 2 metres wide at its narrowest point. Turtles, White tip reef sharks, 100 + kilo groupers, leopard Morays, enormous shoals of grey and red snapper, surgeon fish sardines, and all manner of large pelagic fish are all prevalent at this reef.
Depth: 25-35 metres.
Rating: Experienced divers only!
(N.B. Due to unpredictable currents, this dive may only be made during certain tides.)
Likoni
A very pleasant dive, Likoni is ideal for beginners. The whole dive can be spent at 5 metres enjoying the view of large amounts of staghorn coral & darting shoals of small jewel-like reef fish. Once again, Likoni is an ideal second dive of the day.
Depth: 5-15 metres.
Rating: All divers
Lucky chance**
This is an ideal opportunity for less experienced divers to enjoy seeing large Pelagics, snappers turtles & an impressive drop off at only 18 metres (experienced divers may wish to follow the 30 meter + drop down.)
Depth: 5-18 metres.
Rating: Capable divers
Vuma caverns.
An absolute must for any serious diver. Vuma is an hour and a half boat trip North of Mombasa. As the name implies, Vuma's main attraction are the stunning caves & blow holes that can be explored at a relatively shallow depth. Large fish, reef sharks, turtles, groupers & occasionally even dolphins can be found here. The trip to Vuma is probably the best chance to see Whale sharks during the season. Vuma is a two dive package.
Depth: 5-22 metres.
Rating: Experienced divers