Mafia Island · Tanzania · Wall · Cave & cavern
Dindini Wall
An archway in the rock wall, ringed by reef fish
Area photo: brittonpaul83 · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dindini is a rock wall dived as two sites on the same face. Dindini South runs to 26 m past small caves and overhangs and an archway formed in the rock; Dindini North extends the same wall to 30 m with little coral on it, where the dive is about searching the caves and hanging in the blue for grouper and napoleon wrasse.
Also known as Dindini South, Dindini North.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Mafia Island and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
You drop onto the wall and work along the face, following the line of small caves and overhangs cut into it, with the south end bottoming out at 26 m. The feature to look for is the archway that has formed in the rock, usually ringed by reef fish. The caves themselves are worth lighting rather than swimming past: big rays, moray and grouper are sometimes found hiding out in them, and they are the reason to take this wall slowly rather than cover distance along it.
Dindini North is an extension of the same wall, deeper at 30 m, with several small caves in the shallows and not much coral on the rock. The dive is accordingly split between the caves and the open water. You work along the face looking into the openings, then hang off the wall watching the blue for big potato grouper, napoleon wrasse, turtles, the occasional reef shark and other pelagics.
Marine life and season
- Groupers
- Napoleon wrasse
- Sea turtles
- Reef sharks
- Stingrays
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Mafia Island: Whale shark season peaks October-March; the March-May long rains bring rougher seas and reduced visibility.
Know before you go
- The operator describes difficult diving procedures on this site and says it is not suitable for everyone, so it is one to dive with a guide who knows the wall.
- The north end of the wall reaches 30 m and the dive involves hanging in open water off the face, which makes gas and no-stop time easy to lose track of.
Dive videos
Dindini North - Diving with Golden Trevallies in Mafia. Tanzania · Axurro on YouTube
CLOWN FISHES MAFIA ISLAND 2019 · RENAUD ESPECHE on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Dindini Wall?+
Dindini South has a maximum depth of 26 m. Dindini North, the extension of the same wall, is given a maximum of 30 m.
Sources
- Fun Diving | Big Blu Mafia Island Dive Centre — Big Blu Mafia Island Dive Centre
More dive sites in Mafia Island
Reef
The north end of an 800 m reefbank, 5 m to sand at 17 m
Reef
Reef rays resting on the rubble at the foot of the reef
Wall
A coral bank to 15 m, dived by day and after dark
Coral garden
Three coral patches divided by bright sand channels
Wall
A vertical face with shallow caverns, 8 m to 26 m
Reef
Pink and purple corals down a seaward reef slope to 26 m
Channel & pass
The channel through the centre of Chole Bay, dived as a drift
Drift
A drift along a coloured coral slope to 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
Two archways cut through the wall of a sunken bowl
Shafts of light in a cracked cavern on the north wall
A notched 2 km wall with three manta cleaning stations
A coral arch on the wall, named for a Cayman photographer