"There are dozens of beautiful outlying islands off Pemba that remain completely untouched, with untrodden sandy beaches"

Pemba, lying 50km north of Zanzibar off the coast of east Africa, is a true island, rising sheer from great depth and topped with gentle, undulating hills and deep verdant valleys covered with dense clove, coconut and mango plantations. 

 

The main reason people come to Pemba is for the marine life, so you wont be surrounded by hordes of holiday makers on a "beach" holiday. Because of this ‘exclusivity’ the island remains a pristine tropical wilderness and this extends to the surrounding marine environment too.

 

There are dozens of beautiful outlying islands off Pemba that remain completely untouched, with untrodden sandy beaches. Some have remote villages, others are uninhabited. Spending time on a yacht in these waters is superb and you can sometimes have the whole place practically to yourself.

 

The waters around these islands are among the richest and most exciting in the world and home to thousands of species of tropical fish and other exotic marine life. Around 180 species of coral have been found present in the Zanzibar Islands and among them Pemba has examples of almost all coral species to be found in Africa. 

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Pemba Island is renowned for it’s unspoilt coral reefs but also for its vertical coral cliffs, which plummet to depths of more than 800 metres. With underwater visibility often reaching 60 meters or more looking over the precipice of some of these outer walls can be a mind-blowing experience – you better watch out for the vertigo!

 

Dramatic and exciting coral reefs stretch as far as the eye can see. Napoleon wrasse swim side by side with the large pelagic game fish such as tuna, jacks, wahoo and barracuda as they hunt amongst the thousands of small, brightly coloured reef fish. Manta and eagle rays frequent the area, as do many species of shark. Giant groupers can reach lengths of 2 metres. Hawskbill and green turtles swim by, as curious garden eels peer out of their hides and whale sharks, pilot whales, dolphins, marlins and sailfish are also regularly seen by divers.

 

This is a breathtaking African experience in a forgotten tropical paradise that is untouched and unspoilt by the outside world. If you ever wanted to simply get away from it all, hang out on boats, pass your days diving and snorkelling, lazing around on beaches that wont have seen another visitor in months, fishing for your dinner, building beach bbq’s and all that kind of thing, then look no further...this is a real flop over the side and swim with the dolphins piece of heaven.