Mozambique

We flew to Mozambique via South Africa as there were no direct flights to the UK. At the time all airlines that operated in Mozambique were banned from EU airspace due to safety concerns. A few Years before a LAM airlines pilot committed suicide by deliberately crashing his plane killing all 33 people on board, so understandably we were a little nervous on the LAM airlines flight from Johannesburg to Inhambane. However after a total of 14 hours of flying including the 11 1/2 from Manchester, we finally arrived in Inhambane and made the 30 minute transfer to Tofo Beach, a small costal town with a stunning sandy beach.

We were in Tofo mainly for the diving as it is famous for the giant manta and whale sharks, but also because it was such a beautiful beach destination. We had booked a room for two weeks in a small resort with our simple but cheap accommodation literally right on the beach.  We had also booked a dive package with Tofo Scuba, so after checking into our accommodation we went straight over, it was only 100 yards up the beach to book in our first day diving for the following day, this also took us past a lovely little beach bar called Fatimas which we ended up spending quite a lot of time in over the next few weeks!

Over the following ten days our days consisted of waking relatively early for a spot of breakfast before walking the hundred yards up the beautiful beach to Tofo Scuba to get our kit ready for the days diving. Then riding the pickup out to meet the rib on the beach, loading up and launching through the breakers. Then we had a morning dive follower by at least a one hour and thirty minute surface interval which was spent cruising up and down looking for whale sharks, sadly we never saw any as there had been a period of really bad weather before our arrival which keeps the larger pelagics in deeper water until conditions settle. Then we would have a second dive before returning to the beach, getting the rib back on dry land and returning to Tofo Scuba to wash or kit and hang it up to dry for the following morning.

In the afternoons after the diving we usually chilled on the porch of our accommodation or went for a walk along the beach, inevitably we ended up in Fatimas for an evening meal and a couple of beers, watching the moon rise over the ocean and the candles flicker in the breeze. Lots of relaxation after the days diving, which on a few dives did become quite difficult as the currents could become quite severe, forcing you to almost climb along the reef holding on for dear life.

We did have a couple of non diving days so we decided on one of these days we would go horse riding along the beach as we had seen a few people doing this throughout the week. I expected the horses to be a bit skinny being in the heat all the time, but they were actually quite healthy, nice looking horses. The ride took us out through a small collection of houses and over sand dunes out onto the beach. I benefited from having ridden horses before, I used to have lessons years ago, but Tracey was less impressed as her horse had a mind of its own. We did have a great ride up the beach and through the surf, returning again over the sand dunes and past a few locals again past the small collection of houses, we also passed a fabulous camper truck that appeared to be touring the world!

Another of our non diving days we walked north the full length go the beach up around the headland. The beach is 5 miles long, so by the time we got back we had walked at least 10 miles, but we also walked south around to Tofhino Beach, the next small beach along and onto the cliffs beyond. We met some locals that were either fishing or digging to find buried crustaceans under the sand. We also spent a little time in the town. The town is small, but has a little market and a few souvenir stalls selling carved wood and shells. Everywhere is chilled and apparently locals set their watches to MMT (Mozambique maybe time!)

Finally the time came to return to the UK, so back to Inhambane airport where the worries of the safety of LAM airlines re-appeared. The flight attendant boarded the plane and asked all passengers to check they had a ticket as there were 2 too many people on the flight, and to our amazement, they said it didn't really matter, closed the doors and off we went down the runway, back to Johannesburg. We did get to see giant manta but sadly not any whale sharks, the diving was good (although my pictures are bad), there are well stocked reefs with large shoals of fish, there are sharks and rays and definitely giant manta. You need to time your trip well, avoid bad weather and plan on plenty of dives to give you a greater chance of seeing the larger pelagics and if you are really lucky you might catch sight of a full size whale or two migrating up the coast. A short video of the trip and few of my dive photos follow. One day we might return, Tofo is a hidden Gem!

Click on the picture to follow the link to our video