Pole Pole, the name of our resort, means 'take it easy' and this is just what we need after a few days working for a charity at a conference in Dar es Salaam at the same time as chasing missing luggage with Kenya Airways. What we really need is some relaxing time and Pole Pole turns out to be the perfect place to provide it. We are on a small island off the Tanzanian coast, about 30 minutes by small plane from Dar es Salaam. We have come here as Vicky visited with her mother as a child, because the resort was recommended and because Mafia is said to have good diving. The advice we received was spot on - Pole Pole is delightful, the people are charming and the diving is impressive albeit on the 'chilly' side.

Pole Pole room and veranda

Room and dining/bar area

Mafia is a small, flat island off the Tanzanian coast. The airstrip is at the northern end of the island near the largest village, Kilandoni, and a straight road runs down the island past small settlements, palm trees and half-built concrete block enclosures until you reach the Marine Park near the southern tip. Here some friendly wardens relieve you of about $23 per person per day to cover the cost of maintaining the park. Shortly after the barrier you reach the resort. There are a number of small resorts in the Marine Park along with a few dive centres. Most seem to have less than 10 rooms. Our dive centre, which is linked to Pole Pole, also has small rooms and tents that you can stay in.

We are welcomed by Malaika, the local manager, who shows us around. There is an airy bar and restaurant serving good Italian/African food, a small beach, a pool and massage hut, a little library with fine views over the sea, and 5 well designed chalets plus 2 family rooms. It is all set on a prettily landscaped hillside looking over the lagoon. At low tide you can walk along the beach through the mangroves while at high tide you can swim from the beach. Herons and curlews pick at the shoreline while flying foxes nest in the mangroves and fly overhead after sundown.

 

Mange dive site - Vicky with coral, lionfish, white-tip reef shark

Picnic on the sandbank

We have booked into Big Blu Diving Centre, about 10 mins walk from Pole Pole, and get dropped there the next day with our bag. Most of the diving is in Chole lagoon with some dive sites on the ocean side. We are told that they are not diving the outside sites at the moment because of swell but I wonder whether it is also because it is much further for the small traditional boats to go. We are lucky to find that on our first day the divers are making a full day trip to one of the most remote sites - Mange. This is a couple of hours away off the SW tip of Mafia. We find clear waters with abundant reef life, a couple of reef sharks and good coral. On our second dive we see a lot more - several stonefish, large sweetlips, ribbon eels and snake eels, nudibranchs and a leaf scorpionfish. The water temperature is a bracing 25C which we survive in our wetsuits. After two dives we move to a sandbank where the crew grills fish and we relax under an awning and watch the crabs. A great introduction to the local diving.

Anthias, crown squirrelfish, Leaf scorpionfish

Pretty coral on Chole Reef, Painted Sweetlips

The dives inside the lagoon are closer to the dive site - about 30 minutes from the Dive Centre. The dive boats are converted local boats (jahazis and mashuas) with smallish outboards. They are quite slow but the advantage is you can sail home which we did once. We typically dived down the side of the reefs to a sandy bottom at between 14-20m and worked out way around and up. Dives like Milimani Islands and Coral Gardens had big schools of squirrelfish, soldierfish, dascylus and anthias as well as bigger fish like marbled groupers, jacks, pufferfish, sting rays and sweetlips. We found lots of lobsters, a mantis shrimp and many nudibranchs. We generally dived around high tide so the times varied each day. Visibility was mixed, perhaps due to water either flowing in or out of the lagoon. Coral was generally abundant and in good health although on my last dive, Coral Gardens, it was really smashed and dead in one area, possibly as a result of dynamite fishing. Overall impression of Mafia diving very positive. I haven't dived the East African Coast for many years but the marine life is impressive, on a par with the Maldives or Indonesia (without the big pelagics). Downside is lower temperatures and, in our case, not such good visibility on about half of the dives.

Sweetlips, Sailing the dive boat home

Flying fox, Kua ruins on Juani Island

Pole Pole offers activities everyday for those not interested in diving. Many are included in cost of the stay, such as sunset cruises, snorkel trips and excursions to visit local islands. Also popular (but at extra cost) are trips to view whale sharks - everyone we met did actually see them. We enjoying walking along the beach at low tide, chatting to friendly locals, watching seabirds and flying foxes. We also took a sunset cruise and visited the Kua ruins on Juani Island, a trip combined with a swim in a saltwater pool nearby with some cool jellyfish (non-stinging). The boatride took about 30 minutes, slowed by dodging the many seaweed farms around the lagoon. The ruins are Persian and date from the 10-11C. Vicky was here when her mother was working on the archeological dig in the 1960s - with her bucket and spade. A charming and knowledgable guide, Saidi, showed us around the walls, ruined buildings, mosques and tombs. A lot of 'restoration' was going on when we visited with buildings and walls being rebuilt. We hoped that this would not spoil the site.

Overall we loved Mafia and Pole Pole. A super resort with a very friendly team, well thought out but simple rooms, good food and great service. Big Blu was a professionally run diving centre, again with a good team of experienced guides. We were much relaxed after busy and stressful Dar and ready for our next adventure in the bush!