Africa · Malawi
Lake Malawi
Some 700 cichlid species in calm, current-free fresh water
Photo: Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake Malawi holds an estimated 700 species of cichlids, and Lake Malawi National Park, at the southern end of the lake, protects the headland and small rocky islands where divers meet them. At Cape Maclear, over 20 park sites lie within a twenty-minute boat ride, from Thumbi West Island and the Aquarium to the Usipa Wreck and the rock canyons of Rock Gardens. The bay is flat and free of current, so it suits divers learning, and night dives are on offer.
About diving in Lake Malawi
At Cape Maclear the national park's sites are reached in traditional wooden boats, and every one lies within a twenty-minute ride of the lakeside school, so no dive day involves a long crossing. The bay is very flat and has no currents, which makes it a good place to take an Open Water course, and the dives on offer cover deep dives, the wreck, rock canyons and night dives. Scuba Blue, at Club Makolo, runs two boats that dive mainly the park's rock reefs and the sites around Boadzulu Island.
Underwater the scenery is boulders and canyons, with 20 m swim-throughs, and the Usipa Wreck has become an artificial reef. The fish are the mbuna, the local name for the cichlids, an outstanding example of evolution at work, and over 350 species live within the park, almost all of them endemic. Lake Malawi National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 for that fish diversity, and typical visibility is around 12 m.
Lake Malawi suits new divers first: the bay is still, the water is warm in every month, and the Open Water sites run to 12 m at Rock Gardens and 18 m at the Aquarium. Divers who want more depth have the wreck and a deep specialty course. Nkhata Bay, a rocky bay towards the north of the lake, has freshwater diving of its own, with a PADI shop on the north side of the bay offering cheap single dives and courses up to Divemaster.
Best time to dive Lake Malawi
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
| Daytime high | 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F | 27°C81°F | 30°C86°F | 33°C91°F | 35°C95°F | 36°C97°F | 34°C93°F |
| Rain | 380 mm15.0 in | 258 mm10.2 in | 166 mm6.5 in | 48 mm1.9 in | 10 mm0.4 in | 4 mm0.2 in | 5 mm0.2 in | 3 mm0.1 in | 1 mm0.0 in | 12 mm0.5 in | 57 mm2.2 in | 243 mm9.6 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 30°C86°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 29°C84°F | 28°C82°F | 28°C82°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 380 mm15.0 in | 258 mm10.2 in | 166 mm6.5 in | 48 mm1.9 in | 10 mm0.4 in | 4 mm0.2 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 27°C81°F | 30°C86°F | 33°C91°F | 35°C95°F | 36°C97°F | 34°C93°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 5 mm0.2 in | 3 mm0.1 in | 1 mm0.0 in | 12 mm0.5 in | 57 mm2.2 in | 243 mm9.6 in |
2011–2025 averages. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
The year splits in two. From May through October the lake has its dry, settled stretch, the best months for a dive trip. November brings the rainy season, and from December through March the weather turns genuinely wet: February is the wettest month, averaging 15 rain days, the lake gets choppy and visibility underwater drops. April is the tail of the rains before they stop in May. The water stays warm through every month of the year.
Best months: May, June, July, August, September, October
Lake Malawi water temperature and weather by month
Most rain falls from December to March, peaking at about 380 mm (15 in) in January; it stays largely dry from April to November. Daytime highs reach 36 °C (97 °F) in November and drop to 27 °C (81 °F) in July. The coldest water here is about 22 °C (72 °F), so pack a 5 mm suit.
Dive types & marine life
Cichlids turn up in their millions on typical dives. Water clarity peaks from July to September, the same window as cichlid spawning, when mouthbrooding displays play out at 1-3 m in the rocky shallows. Large catfish, eels, lungfish, killifish and large freshwater crabs are often sighted, and night dives bring swarms of dolphinfish, the Malawi blue dolphin cichlid.
- Freshwater
- Wreck
- Night
- Freshwater fish
Best dive sites in Lake Malawi
- 1
Thumbi West Island
The premier site at Cape Maclear, with hundreds of species at every depth and fine photo conditions.
- 2
Aquarium
Open Water site with the highest concentration of tropical fish in the lake.
- 3
Usipa Wreck
An old ferry that sank in 1998, a 30 m dive for Advanced Open Water divers.
- 4
Rock Gardens
Rock canyons to swim through, with huge fish nests.
- 5
Mumbo Island
Island about 4 km offshore with a maze of underwater boulders and countless cichlids.
Site guides
Home water of the Malawi butterfly cichlid
Wreck
Kampango out on the sand around the hull
How to get to Lake Malawi
From Lilongwe, Cape Maclear is a 5- to 6-hour drive by car; by minibus to Monkey Bay and a motorbike on from there, allow 8 hours or more. Club Makolo is a 4-hour drive from the airport in Lilongwe. Nkhata Bay is reached by minibus from Mzuzu, an hour and a half away.
Photos from Lake Malawi
Lars Plougmann · CC BY 2.0
Martin Lopatka · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dive videos
Chizumulu Island - Lake Malawi Cichlids - HD Underwater Footage · African Cichlid Hub on YouTube
Lake Malawi diving 2024 -2025 cichlids in their natural habitat · Hagebycikliden on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Is Lake Malawi a good place to learn to dive?+
Yes. Cape Maclear Bay is very flat and has no currents, and fresh water is easier on the eyes during the mandatory safety exercises of the Open Water course.
What certification does the Usipa Wreck need?+
Advanced Open Water: the old ferry is a 30 m dive. Divers who want to go deeper can take a deep specialty course to 40 m.
Is there bilharzia in Lake Malawi?+
Some parts of the lake carry the flatworms that cause bilharzia, and the parasites enter through the skin. The waters around Mumbo Island are bilharzia-free.
Sources
- Cape Maclear Scuba - Diving — Cape Maclear Scuba
- Dive Lake Malawi in Africa — Scuba.com
- Cape Maclear — Wikivoyage
- Nkhata Bay — Wikivoyage
- Malawi — Wikivoyage
- Lake Malawi National Park — Wikipedia
- Lake Malawi Diving Guide — Tripbase
- Best Time to Visit Lake Malawi — Tripbase
- Where To Go Snorkeling And Diving In Lake Malawi — AFKTravel
- Cape Maclear & Monkey Bay — Cycloscope
- Diving Lake Malawi: my PADI in Cape Maclear — Cycloscope
Photo credits
- Granite boulders and shoreline trees frame the beach at Otter Point, Cape Maclear, on Lake Malawi by Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A group of cichlids swims over a rocky slope in the clear water of Lake Malawi by Lars Plougmann, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- The sun sets a deep red behind a wooded headland on the shore of Lake Malawi by Martin Lopatka, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Embed
Run a dive centre, club or blog? Embed this map of 1 dive sites near Lake Malawi on your own page.
In The Logbook
- Altitude diving: how the rules changeBody & health · 7 min read
- How long to wait before flying after divingBody & health · 8 min read
- Cheapest places to scuba dive, and the catchTrip planning · 15 min read
- Freshwater diving: lakes, springs and quarriesFreshwater · 15 min read
Similar destinations
Equatorial volcanic pinnacles almost nobody has dived
Ragged-tooth sharks settle on the Bay's reefs from November to May
Ragged-tooth sharks congregate to mate from July to November
.jpg){kind=link}
Cape fur seals and sevengill sharks weave through towering kelp canopies.