Mafia Island

Formed in 1995 as Tanzania's first marine park, the Mafia Archipelago and the Rufiji River Delta together constitute one of the most fascinating marine zones in the world, yet also one of the least explored. They are home to a number of endangered species, including dugong and giant turtle, over 400 varieties of fish, and, on land, stunning plant life, overgrown mangroves and thick forests of palm and baobab.

Like its neighbours, Zanzibar and Pemba, Mafia has a rich and dramatic past, though it is not as well-preserved. It was part of the same trans-oceanic trading network that linked the eastern coast of Africa to India and China in the Middle Ages, before Europeans ever reached sub-Saharan Africa. The ruins of settlements dating back to the 9th-century, including fine mosques and forts, have been found on Mafia Island, as have fragments of Chinese pottery.

However it is the gorgeous beaches, and the stunning marine life, that constitute Mafia’s main attractions. The archipelago’s remoteness means it receives relatively few visitors. Mafia’s few hotels – Chole Mjini, Pole Pole Resort and Kinasi Lodge – are all rustic, low-key beach retreats with their own private stretches of white sand beachfront. It’s the perfect escape – many of the islands in the archipelago are uninhabited but easily accessed by boat, and can be visited on day trips.

In and around Mafia Island, Tanzania
Mafia's many lagoons and inland bays, such as Chole, are safe environments for scuba diving, accessible to both amateur divers and experts. The marine life in the reserve is fabulous. Brightly-coloured shoals of fish swim among the delicate coral gardens, while on the sea-bed, starfish, crabs, multi-coloured shells and sea plants add to the iridescent ballet of underwater life.

In the Mafia Channel, you can see rare species such as great white shark, dugong, and giant turtle, which come to lay their eggs on the uninhabited islands of the archipelago during the monsoon.

Mafia is perhaps as famous for its deep-sea fishing as its diving—Hemingway once fished here, after all! Catch-and-release line fishing is allowed and can be organised at camps such as Lua Cheia, which offers fishing excursions on private yachts.