We started our day with a nice breakfast at the hotel. We started with fresh fruits and that was followed by the set menu for the day which was Omlette with vegetables, Potato Pancakes, Roll with White Cheese, Toast with Butter and Jam and Avocado.
We had booked the Mnemba Snorkeling And Dolphin Tour from Nungwi on https://www.getyourguide.com/. We walked from our hotel to the meeting point for the tour which was opposite the Nungwi Inn Beach Restaurant. Someone figured out who were were and took us to one of the shops to try out fins as per our foot size. We had bought our own snorkeling masks so didn’t need those. We were then asked us to sit there till the rest of the people who had booked the tour showed up.
One everyone had arrived we got into our boat and started off. We cruised around the northen part of the island and then started heading south towards Mnemba island.
Our first stop was the snorkeling poiint near Mnemba island. It was nice and there were fish to see around the coral but there were also a lot of people in the water.
Next we stopped at the sand bank a little further away. Here the water was of varying depth from ankle deep to waist deep as we got further away from the main sand bank. We could get off the boat and walk around and enjoy the experience.
Our tour operartor had arranged for fresh fruits for all of us, bananas, pineapples and watermelons. It was a welcome treat after being in the water for so long and also in the sun. Little did we know that the weather would turn rather quickly.
Next up was finding the dolphins and swimming with them. As we headed out from the sandbank it got all dark and cloudy. And before we knew it it started pouring in the middle of the ocean. The rain was hammering us from all side and the shed on top of the boat couldn’t do much to keep us dry. As we kept moving through the water a pod of dolphins emerged right next to our boat, really close. It felt like you could almost touch them. This got everyone in the boat very excited. It was amazing to see these creatures at such a close range. They were magnificent and majestic and surprisingly huge. And all this in the middle of the tropical rain storm.
The rain subsided and we were able to spot another pod close to our boat. I was eager to get a chance to swim with them so I put on my snorkeling mark and jumped in. And I was the only one from our boat who did, without fins and without a lifejacket. With my mask on, I was able to see a few dolphins under water as they came in from the surface and swam away. They were fast and very quickly I was in the middle if the ocean with no dolphins in sight and my boat quite far away. There was another boat which was slightly close and one guy from that boat who was also in the water. So (just like in Nusa Penida) instead of attempting to swim further to my boat, I swam to the other boat which was closer. But by the time I got to it, my boat had come back for me so I turned around and swam to it. Being in the water with the dolphins and seeing them under water was one of the best experiences I have had.
I got back on to our boat and we headed to the last stop for the tour. And just like that the sun was out and it was like the storm and rain never happened. We reached a shalow area of the sea north of the northern end of the island. This place was famous for starfish. Huge startfish. The water was calm and not too deep so we could see the sea floor cleary. I swam around and got to see lots of starfish.
The tour concluded and we were dropped of where we started. We walked to a local restaurant, Mama Africa for lunch. It didn’t seem like a great place from the looks of it and quite different from the photos online. But the food was good.
We got back to the room and relaxed a bit before venturing out in the evening. we walked around the shops and market but didn’t really buy anything. We headed to MJ Cafe for dinner before retiring for the night.
🚘 Zanzibar Maneno Car Rental
🤿 Mnemba Snorkeling And Dolphin Tour
🍽️ Mama Africa
🍽️ MJ Cafe
🛏️ Babalao Bungalows