Mafia Island · Tanzania · Reef · Coral garden
Milimani North
Coral bommies on white sand, from 5 m down to 17 m
Area photo: brittonpaul83 · CC BY-SA 2.0
Milimani North is a hard-coral site off Mafia Island where bommies stand clear of a white sand bottom. The coral begins at about 5 m and the reef carries on down to around 17 m, a gradual profile that stays well inside recreational limits and is dived as a crossing from one coral head to the next.
Where it is and how deep
7.9424° S, 39.7857° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
You drop onto the sand and pick up the first bommies straight away, isolated hard-coral heads standing clear of a white bottom at around 5 m. The pale sand reflects light back onto the coral, so the site stays bright at this depth. The shape of the site is these separate patches rather than one continuous reef, which makes the dive a slow crossing from head to head on whatever line the boat hands you.
Past the bommies the hard coral runs on and the ground falls away gradually, levelling out near 17 m at the deep end. Nothing is steep here and there is no wall to follow, so depth is a choice rather than a demand: hold the shallows for a long, gentle dive, or drop to the bottom of the slope early and step back up through the coral as gas allows. Most profiles finish shallow among the bommies, where the safety stop passes over reef rather than in open blue.
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.
Questions divers ask
How deep is Milimani North?+
The hard coral starts at around 5 m and the reef continues down to about 17 m, so the whole site sits within a standard recreational profile.
Sources
- Milimani North - 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 calm hard-coral slope fringing Kisite Island, inside the marine park
The 'Christmas Tree' green tree coral on the seaward drop-off
Deeper outer system of branching, table and plate corals
Gestating ragged-tooth sharks settle here from December