Chole Bay Reef
Dive site
The showpiece dive of Mafia Island Marine Park, Chole Bay holds some of the most intact hard coral in the western Indian Ocean. Enormous table corals stretch across a gently sloping reef from 5 m to 25 m, interspersed with brain coral heads the size of cars and thickets of staghorn that shelter clouds of anthias. Hawksbill turtles graze on sponges along the reef crest at almost every dive. October through March whale sharks cruise the bay's outer edges on their annual aggregation, making Chole Bay one of the few places on earth where pristine coral diving and whale shark encounters overlap on a single dive.
Conditions
Depth
5 to 25 m
Open water and up
Current
Can be moderate
Can pick up on the edge
Visibility
8 to 15 m
Clearest in the calm season
Water
23 to 30°C
5mm wetsuit
Month by month
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water (°C) | 27 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Vis (m) | 20 | 20 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 20 | 20 |
| Current | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle | Gentle |
Your chances of seeing each animal
Hawksbill sea turtle
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Humpback dolphin
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Bumphead parrotfish
Photo: Mark Rosenstein · CC BY-NC
Sometimes
About 1 in 3 dives
Whale shark
Photo: Simon Pierce · CC BY-NC
Rare
Now and then
Field journal
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Gear
Basic kit
For this site
- Polarised sunglasses · Whale shark spotting is done by eye from the boat surface before entering — polarised lenses cut glare significantly and speed up the spot.
- Reef hook · Occasional current rips across the outer bay edge where whale sharks tend to cruise. A hook lets you hold position without finning and disturbing the encounter.