Mafia Island · Tanzania · Drift · Reef
Mikadini
A drift along a coloured coral slope to 25 m
Area photo: brittonpaul83 · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mikadini is a gently sloping fringing reef that cascades down to 25 m, carrying a lot of brightly coloured coral on the way. It often runs with a current, so the site is dived as a drift: the boat drops you up-current and you cover ground along the slope rather than working one patch of reef.
Where it is and how deep
7.9395° S, 39.8184° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
This is a negative-effort dive when the current is running. The boat puts you in up-current and you descend onto a fringing reef that slopes gently rather than dropping away, cascading down to about 25 m at its deepest. Get your depth sorted in the first minutes, then let the water carry you along the slope and use fins for position on the reef rather than for progress.
The brightly coloured coral along the slope is the reason to be here, and it passes at whatever pace the water sets, so the discipline is to look ahead rather than stopping on things that are already behind you. Because the ground rises steadily as you go, the natural shape of the dive is deep first, then gradually shallower along the same drift line, ending with a mid-water safety stop and a pickup wherever the current has taken the group.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| 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 current is the point of the dive: stay with the group, carry a surface marker buoy and deploy it before the safety stop so the boat can track the drift.
Questions divers ask
Is Mikadini a drift dive?+
Usually. The site often has a current running along the fringing reef, and it is dived as a drift down a gently sloping reef that reaches around 25 m.
Sources
- Mikadini - Scubago — Scubago
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
An archway in the rock wall, ringed by reef fish
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
Similar dives elsewhere
A current-swept ridge where grey reef sharks hold out in the blue
A drift run deep to 26 m or shallow to 20 m
Three current-cut canyons and an old Spanish anchor at 30 m
A current-washed plateau at 25–30 m, pelagics one day, pygmies the next