Guinjata Diving

This is the world famous Manta Reef on everyone’s must dive list.

Not only is the topography of the actual reef absolutely stunning but also close encounters with Manta rays are practically guaranteed at the three cleaning stations, making this a phenomenal dive site.

Distance: 24km, Minimum Qualification: Deep Adventure (which you can do on this dive, experience and conditions permitting) Maximum, Depth: 30m, Average Depth: 21m, Dive Time:A multilevel dive profile, that gives you a dive time of 45mins, if done correctly.

We have a north and south drop depending on the current. Our North drop is onto Manta Pinnacles, the first cleaning station and a massive pinnacle of rock that rises from 26m on the sand to 18m on top. The wall is a steep drop of 8m with a swim thru and huge overhang, which hides a resident Potato Bass. Red Fang Trigger fish cover the reef along with huge schools of Yellow Snappers, Bigeyes, Fusiliers and Trumpet fish. This is also the place to see Spanish Dancers swimming midwater during the day, quite a rare sight. From here we swim along the top of the reef over colourful soft corals to the second cleaning station. We’ll stop and make ourselves negatively buoyant and let the Manta’s swim up to and over us (we think they like our bubbles tickling their bellies) and just take in this amazing sight, being careful not to touch them. Then depending on the dive time we either carry on to Manta Canyon, the third cleaning station, or start our ascent to the safety stop. The Manta’s carry on being cleaned by Cleaner Wrasse, Goldies and Butterfly fish below us and sometimes we encounter curious Devil rays on the way up.

Our South drop is onto Manta Canyon, a huge wall that drops down to 30m on the sand, with lots of cracks and ledges to look into for Eggshell Cowries, Long nose hawk fish and giant Moray eels. We hide behind the ledge at 24m to let the Manta’s come over us, and when we carry on the dive we head over the reef to Manta Pinnacles.

General Info: This reef is rarely affected by strong currents or surge.Because of the distance to, and the quality of, this reef we like to ‘double tank’ this dive site and the boat ride there and back gives us plenty of opportunity to find dolphins and whale sharks to swim with.

The province of Inhambane (the land of good people), is where you'll find Guinjata Bay Resort. Guinjata Bay Resort, the Pioneer to one of the world's top 10 dive sites, Manta Reef, which was discovered in 1995. With crystal clear waters, flourishing coral reefs and a host of world-class facilities, this is one of the Indian Ocean coastline's best-kept secrets.  

Whale Sharks are known to be seen all year round but the waters are heavily populated during the Mozambique summer months (September – February). Please note that February is the known time of year for Cyclones so if you do come then there is a chance of being caught up in a cyclone. Obviously the visibility drops dramatically during this month if cyclones do hit the coast.

Please remember to dive responsibly with whale sharks. Your dive master will remind you about the rules regarding diving with whale sharks such as how close you are allowed to approach the whale shark, touching the whale shark etc. Be a safe and responsible diver because even though the whale sharks show no threat to divers they are very powerfull sharks and should be respected.

Please always ask to make sure before booking whether you are likely to see whale sharks during your future visit as not to be dissapointed by arriving out of season or in a bad season. This is very important as many divers come to Mozambique aspecially to swim with the whale shark.