Stone Town Reefs

The fringing reefs immediately west of Stone Town's UNESCO-listed seafront may be the most convenient dive destination in East Africa — 15 minutes from the dock, dived in a single morning, yet sheltering a richness of small life that rewards macro photographers and beginner divers equally. The reef runs in two bands: an inner flat at 5 to 10 m studded with large star and brain corals, and an outer slope dropping to 18 m where the coral cover increases dramatically and large table Acropora formations shelter hundreds of species. Schools of snapper and fusilier hang in the water column above the tables, titan triggerfish defend nesting territories on the sand, and at night the reef transforms with feeding cuttlefish, hunting crabs and sleeping parrotfish visible in their mucus cocoons.