14 days in Northern Mozambique and two places dived : Nacala bay/Fernão Veloso and Pemba.

First Nacala bay really hit my attention. The dives were done in a lovely operation called Bay Diving and aptly subtitled "fim do mundo"... probably because there's nothing after and anyway, you don't need to go and check beyond, as they're perfectly settled.

Huge Nacala bay is where whales go for shelter, as well as other marine mammals, in the months of august till november, unfortunately I didn't see any my stay, even though we heard dolphins sing during our dives. Dives were achieved in ideal condition : just Sarah the instructor and me.

Don't count on big stuff though, the place is a paradise for the strangest critters like ghostpipefish, frogfish, scorpionfish and an impressive variety of coral crabs and shrimps. Hard coral is as good as you can get. Strangely, the closest diving to Indonesia I have seen yet.

Unfortunately my flash wire connections dismissed after two dives and I just have a two and a half dives image crop (and no wide angle shots) of this place that would deserve a full week diving.

(Best spots in Nacala bay : hands down Fernão Veloso -a photographer's frustration, both wide angle and macro are required- and also Bay Diving House Reef.)

After a bold repair in a local shop, I could use my camera and flash in Pemba, my next diving stop. I used famous Pieter's CI Divers. Pieter is a long time SA expat in Mozambique, he pioneered the diving in Pemba and won't leave anyone but him guide the good dives.

I wouldn't say that dives were as spectacular in Pemba as in Nacala, Pemba doesn't compete on the visibility, which seems obvious as Nacala bay is very sheltered, but neither in macro fish life too. All in all some nice dives along the deep wall half a mile off Pemba's shore, but rather average dives in the shallower areas. Perhaps also the diving conditions were not as good for me as Pieter had to perform several OW courses in the shallows while I was on my own looking for the fauna.

(Best spots in Pemba : Finger and Wall.)