Memba Bay Reef

One of Mozambique's most pristine hard coral gardens, where decades of isolation from major tourism have allowed the reef to grow to staggering complexity. Table corals the size of dining tables spread across the plateau at 10 to 18 m, and the gaps between them are alive with every colour of reef fish imaginable. Lionfish fan their poisonous spines above staghorn thickets and enormous mushroom leather corals wave gently in the swell. The silence down here has a particular quality — just the sound of your bubbles and the soft clicking of mantis shrimp in the rubble. This is what a healthy reef looks and feels like!