Kichwani

Kichwani is a single big coral reef rather than a set of separate features, and it runs from the surface down to 30 metres. The usual plan is a descent along the reef face to the deeper coral and a slow return up it, which puts the deepest part of the dive at the start. The coral is a good mixture of hard and soft species in different colours, and there is structure beside you at every depth on the way down.

The deep end of the dive is the glassfish shelter at 25 metres, where the small fish pack into the coral in a shimmering mass. Working back up, the reef holds the full spread of Zanzibar reef fish: pufferfish and butterflyfish among the coral heads and, if you look carefully at the right spots, the occasional frogfish, which is the rare find here rather than the expected one.

The seaward face is worth watching too. Napoleon wrasse and jackfish are seen on the blue side of the reef, and dolphins turn up here occasionally as well. Because the coral runs right up to the surface, the safety stop is spent over live reef in the shallowest few metres rather than hanging in open water.