Mozambique Marine Adventure - Part ll
Upon arrival in Tofu, we set about arranging our activities for the next few days. It was good to once again be settled in one place for a few days. The hotel was right on the beach, and a short walk took us to the centre, of restaurants and some bars and shops.
Following day, we met at the dive shop for a quick briefing of what encounters we may have, and how they would be managed. We then all made our way to the beach to launch the zodiac and set off. It wasn’t long before the captain announced that some Manta Rays were just ahead, and we were to prepare to get in the water. Once in the warm water, I am a great believer in not following the flock, and anyway when was the last time a human outswam a fish, exactly. So I just hung back from the posse who were intent on following these magnificent creatures, the gamble paid off, and after a few minutes out of the milky plankton I saw a shape of black and white swim before me, a huge Manta Ray, who banked slightly more graceful than any aircraft. I hung around a few more minutes to see a few more just swim under me, it's very hard to smile underwater, but am sure they could see me grinning.
The boat guys gestured us back on the boat as there had been a sighting of a whale shark, again we sped off to a position around 10-15 metres in front of this incredible creature, again trying to get into the water silently and just wait around to see what would happen, again I heard the fin splash above anything else, and knew the shark was close, when out of the gloom this huge fish appeared, didn’t give me a second look as it swam by, very close by. I could only think, that’s it, I’m done. I was very happy to be in such close proximity to two sets of beautiful yet elusive and shy creatures.
One thing to note, the guides have an unusual way of getting back on dry land, they drive to Zodiacs at full power, straight at the beach, quite an emergency stop.
After some lunch we met our fellow divers and crew for our first dive, there were about 10 of us in two groups, larger than I would normally dive with. We were taken to a drop off point just a few hundred metres from the coast. The dive site was named Marble Arch, and after a quick descent we were met with literally hundreds of schooling fish and amazing coral. We soon found out why it had the name Marble Arch, during the dive we swam through a huge arch of coral reef, simply stunning. All too quickly one of the party were getting low on air, and as 50 bar was the agreed stop, we convened at 5 metres for our safety stop. It’s a little known fact that sometimes though the surface of the sea looks choppy, underneath can be calm, once we got on the surface the boat quickly found us and thankfully got us out of the choppy water swell quickly. Another nice touch, the dive guys handed around lollipops to counteract dry mouth and also stave off any bouts of seasickness.
That was day one over, we couldn’t wait to get out again the next day, but of course with animals nothing is guaranteed. We reported back to the group that the dive was good, and we saw some amazing sights. Day two followed same routine as day one, a quick briefing at the dive centre, launch the boat and keep your eyes peeled. We saw many humpbacks near the surface, we cut the engines and floated alongside, until they dived away. Again our captain could spot things we couldn’t, and we were on our way to another whale shark encounter, then by chance we came across some Manta and other rays near the surface, remembering what happened the previous day, I waited on the boat, let the splashy people get in, and waited around. I stayed fairly close to the boat and watched the fins disappear, always looking beneath the surface, this time not only did I see two huge rays swim right by, but also, slightly deeper, 2 juveniles swam by, in perfect formation.
One great thing when in the water is looking out for the reaction of others, and I raised my head to see if anyone was near so I could tell them they had incoming rays, just as they passed right beneath her, as she lifted her head excitedly and smiling to tell me what she’d just seen. I was quite near the boat at this point and I have to say was quite satisfied to board, my expectations more than met seeing the rays up close. Now to the shark, we headed off and positioned ourselves about 30 metres in front of where we’d hoped it would swim, unfortunately another boat had beaten us to it and already had swimmers in the water, and previous encounters told us the shark would outswim the humans in no time. Again people too eager, jumped in, and swam towards the huge fish, and of course it dived, thankfully the water was only around 10-15 feet deep, I just slid in off the boat and took a gamble and positioned myself where I hoped the shark would swim, minutes later the shape of the shark appeared, probably around 10 feet down, I gave it some room and it swam just under me and to the left, what struck me most was the effortless way it swam, very efficient slow moving tail, powering through the water, and off it went. On this trip we had a marine researcher accompany us, who had identified the shark as one they named Rodney.
The whole party were buzzing at the close encounters, and we had more to come with another afternoon dive to look forward to. We met our dive master, to discover we were the only two people on the dive, and we were to have a shallow dive quite close to shore. The dive master knew the location well, and promised we may see some interesting things - what an understatement that turned out to be. We saw fish I’d only previously read about, and some I couldn’t identify: Lion Fish, Stone Fish, Spotted Rays, Moray Eel, Grouper, numerous shoal fish, angel fish. The interesting type he promised were 3 harlequin shrimp and peacock mantis shrimp, small but stunningly beautiful even in the colour washed deep water.
It was a great end to our stay in Tofu, unfortunately words cannot convey their beauty. I would certainly recommend Tofu for anyone interested in Marine Welfare and Conservation to give it some consideration. No animals were forced into any interaction, they are all wild.