Pemba Island
Tanzania · East Africa
An almost entirely undived island north of Zanzibar, ringed by walls that drop to beyond sport diving limits with zero crowds. Pemba sits in the Zanzibar Archipelago yet receives a fraction of its famous neighbour's dive traffic, which means healthy hard coral gardens, dense schools of fish, and encounters with large pelagics that feel genuinely wild. The steep walls are draped in gorgonians and black coral, and the currents that sweep the channels bring in barracuda, eagle rays, and occasional hammerhead sharks. This is frontier diving at its finest!
How this reef is doing
ⓘ How we measure thisReef state
Live coral covers 18% of this reef.
Coral cover
Fish life
Heat
Fishing
Open to fishing, and the water is fairly quiet.
Sources · MERMAID and the survey teams · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity
Coral cover over time
Live coral cover, by survey year
Across 9 survey years from 2017 to 2026, live coral cover here has fallen from 24% to 18%. Every point is a real survey reading, never a projection.
Live coral cover, percent by year
| Year | Coral cover |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 24% |
| 2018 | 46% |
| 2019 | 41% |
| 2020 | 26% |
| 2022 | 24% |
| 2023 | 51% |
| 2024 | 21% |
| 2025 | 8% |
| 2026 | 18% |
What you will see
26 species across the dive sites here
Spiny Cushion Star
Seen 2 months ago
at Fundu Gap
Red-Knobbed Sea Star
Seen 2 months ago
at Fundu Gap
Collector Urchin
Seen 3 months ago
at Mesali Island Reef
Lyretail Anthias
Seen 4 months ago
at Fundu Gap
Least concern
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Seen 4 months ago
at Ras Kigomasha
Critically endangered
Ternate Chromis
Seen 7 months ago
at Fundu Gap
Least concern
Crowned Hornbill
Seen 10 months ago
at Ras Kigomasha
Least concern
Pemba White-Eye
Seen 10 months ago
at Ras Kigomasha
Least concern
Pemba Sunbird
Seen 10 months ago
at Ras Kigomasha
Least concern
Humphead Wrasse
Seen Jul 2025
at Fundu Gap
Endangered
Whitetip Reef Shark
Seen Jun 2025
at Ras Kigomasha
Vulnerable
Titan Triggerfish
Seen Jun 2025
at Ras Kigomasha
Least concern
Moorish Idol
Seen May 2025
at Mesali Island Reef
Least concern
Ocypode celadon
Seen Apr 2025
at Mesali Island Reef
Day Octopus
Seen Mar 2025
at Mesali Island Reef
Least concern
Green Sea Turtle
Seen Dec 2024
at Ras Kigomasha
Least concern
Dog-tooth Tuna
Seen Dec 2024
at East Coast Wall
Least concern
Black Coral
Seen year round
at Fundu Gap
Giant Grouper
Seen year round
at Fundu Gap
Golden Gorgonian
Seen year round
at East Coast Wall
Longnose Hawkfish
Seen year round
at East Coast Wall
Least concern
Pygmy Hawkfish
Seen year round
at East Coast Wall
Least concern
Staghorn Coral
Seen year round
at Mesali Island Reef
Critically endangered
Chevron Barracuda
Seasonal visitor
at Fundu Gap
Least concern
Robust Ghost Pipefish
Seasonal visitor
at Mesali Island Reef
Least concern
Wahoo
Seasonal visitor
at East Coast Wall
Least concern
Dive sites
Fundu Gap
chevron barracuda · black coral · giant grouper · humphead wrasse
Mesali Island Reef
day octopus · robust ghost pipefish · moorish idol · staghorn coral
Ras Kigomasha
green sea turtle · whitetip reef shark · titan triggerfish · hawksbill sea turtle
East Coast Wall
golden gorgonian · black coral · pygmy hawkfish · longnose hawkfish