MOZAMBIQUE - A BLISSFUL 2,000 MILE WHITE SAND COASTLINE

Mozambique, a country of endless white beaches & awesome reefs, is a place to put at least twenty dives into you logbook in six or seven outstanding dive destinations. There's more to diving in Mozambique than is on offer, but to the traveler, it's impossible to get to those places without the great expense of a personal safari guide equipped to the hilt. Be that as it may, its dive spots are not crowded by tourists. It's a unique Third World travel experience, with all its charm.

Status Quos
The natives are friendly, but at times it is tiresome being hassled for tips and sales of unwanted goods. Mozambique is typical of many a country in Africa; a country torn apart by a Marxist revolutionary government that has finally come to its senses after twenty long years of isolation andmismanagement. It is all very sad really, but there is hope. Democracy in a very basic form returned to this land ten years ago. Expatriates and investors have trickled in to re-establish infrastructure that was once there. The government has offered the land back to the holders of title deeds before the revolution, and commerce by the Bouzios is encouraged. The weeds of widowhood are giving way to a bright new future. Your support as a tourist to this country means a lot to the locals who are for the first time in decades seeing Coca Cola return to their stores.

Mozambique diving remains a hidden gem. It's a little basic for some tastes. Most dive lodges are remote without mains electricity. What you see on the table is invariably caught from the sea or raised in the village, so there is no great variety. What it lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in unspoiled coastline; thousands of miles of it. It offers excellent diving from Pemba to Ponte du Oura. South Africa also offers shark diving for Great White & Tiger Shark, the most humungous of them all. The cost is not for the fainthearted, but it is an experience not to miss.

NAUI or PADI Training
Most Lodges offer PADI or NAUI instruction, so no need to stand by while watching your mates dive.Get into it! Within days you could be dancing with the dolphins. There are dive packages to suit most pockets. Make no mistake it can become costly in the long run, for when you're hooked, it becomes a life long obsession.

Wild Life
Wildlife is a scarcity around the villages as the locals ate most of it up. One has to go far away from village life into the northern hinterlands near Lake Cahorra Bassa to see elephant, buffalo and other Big 5 animals, but it's all too remote unless you're doing a specialized trip. Roads are what? You call that a road, no it's a track. Some would even argue that. It is reputed that there are a few remaining elephant in the Elephant Reserve on the peninsula opposite Maputo, but until now that remains an urban legend, we feel designed to lure tourists. The safest and most economical bet is to head back eastward to South Africa's Kruger National Park. Southern lodges have reasonable access to Kruger National Park, so you can have surf and safari within a couple of days.
Mozambique is bordered by South Africa and Swaziland to the South, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi to the west and by Tanzania to the north. It is over 2,000 km long .It varies between 100 & 400 km wide. Madagascar lies 310 km to the east. The warm Mozambique Current flows from the equator southward. It varied between 23° & 30° from summer to winter.

In all what you should be doing in Mozambique is enjoying its truly remarkable coastline, rural Africa at its best and diving if that's your sport.
Mozambique is a favored spot amongst divers in the know. It caters for Divers of all levels and an abundance of marine species (+750) to explore, from the Humpback Whales, Manta Ray, Whale Sharks, Raggies, White Tip, Black Tip sharks to hundreds of species of remarkable reef fish.
February weather can be rough, affecting visibility. It is the month of storms (though the water is warm), but what the hell, its still paradise lost. It's time for you to find it, preferably in season between March & June or August & early January. Though diving can take place in February, there will be days of spoiled visibility.

Dive in Mozambique! It's unique & good value