Pemba Island · Tanzania · Pinnacle · Wall
Manta Point
A summit 40 m long with the reef falling past 60 m
Area photo: James Heilman, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0
Manta Point is an underwater mountain dived on an incoming tide. The reef top sits 8 m to 12 m down on a summit only about 40 m long and 15 m across, small enough to work in a single dive, and the eastern flank steps down to 25 m before rising again into a fringing reef wall. North and south the reef falls away below 60 m.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Pemba Island and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The site is a single underwater mountain and the flood is the tide to dive it on. The summit comes up to between 8 m and 12 m and measures roughly 40 m long by 15 m across, which is small enough to swim around and return to rather than a reef you drift along in one direction. Everything below that summit falls away quickly, so the profile is worth planning before you drop.
On the eastern flank the ground steps down to 25 m before rising again to form the wall that fringes the site with reef, and that step is the natural line for most of the dive. North and south of the summit the reef drops below 60 m, while the western side falls more steeply still, its face covered in corals. Eagle rays and devil rays are the lucky sightings here, so it pays to look off the reef into open water as often as at it.
Marine life and season
- Eagle rays
- Mobula rays
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Good | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Pemba Island: Oct–Mar is the main season with the calmest sea; the long rains in April and May close most operations on the island.
Questions divers ask
What do you see at Manta Point in Pemba?+
The operator names eagle rays and devil rays as the lucky sightings on this underwater mountain, whose summit sits 8 m to 12 m down. Despite the name, its own description of the site does not mention mantas.
Sources
- Diving — Fundu Lagoon
More dive sites in Pemba Island
Wall
The sand floor beside the wall drops away past 80 m
Reef
Coral bommies off the resort's own water entrance
300 fish species on a reef that starts at the beach
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The northbound current sweeps divers through the gap into the lagoon
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A coral mountain from 30 m to 16 m, slack water only
Wall
Camouflaged fish on an easy 5–18 m slope, day or night
Reef
A split in the wall opens into a sand valley at 12 m
Wall
500 m of sloping wall from 6 m down to 25 m
Similar dives elsewhere
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