Mesali Island Reef

The fringing reef around uninhabited Mesali Island is among the most intact coral ecosystems in the western Indian Ocean, its shallows crowded with hard corals in colours that look digitally enhanced: iridescent greens, deep purples, and chalky yellows. The reef slopes gently from the beach to 20 m and the diversity is staggering — over 300 fish species recorded here including species rarely seen on more trafficked reefs. Octopus roam the rubble zones and pipefish drift vertically between sea grass blades at the reef edge. The whole site has a dreamy, unhurried quality because you may be the only divers here for the entire day. Mesali is the Pemba secret that Pemba itself does not yet know it has!