Conditions & tides
Scored by DiveConnect's site-physics model
Marine forecast via Copernicus Marine. Score is a rule-based guide from swell/wind vs. the site's exposure — always dive your own assessment.
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About this site
Sand Banks lies near Mnemba Island, off the northeastern coast of Zanzibar in Tanzania, within the area's protected marine conservation zone between the atoll and the main island. Dive operators typically run trips out to this site from Zanzibar's northeastern shore. It sits over a sand bottom with good visibility, reaching a maximum depth of around 30 metres, and is rated a beginner dive. Divers here regularly encounter batfish, eagle rays, nudibranchs, seahorses, and snapper, with frogfish and stingrays also turning up from time to time.
AI overviewMarine life here
Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.
StingrayStingrayReported here · unconfirmed
Skunk AnemonefishAmphiprion akallopisosReported here · unconfirmed
Geometric MorayGymnothorax griseusReported here · unconfirmed
Spinner DolphinStenella longirostrisReported here · unconfirmed
Three-spot DascyllusDascyllus trimaculatusReported here · unconfirmed
Pacific TrumpetfishAulostomus chinensisReported here · unconfirmed
Indo-Pacific Sergeant MajorAbudefduf vaigiensisReported here · unconfirmed
Guineafowl PufferArothron meleagrisReported here · unconfirmed
Blacklip ButterflyfishChaetodon kleiniiReported here · unconfirmed
Moorish IdolZanclus cornutusReported here · unconfirmed
Loch's ChromodorisChromodoris lochiReported here · unconfirmed
NudibranchNudibranchConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
Eagle rayEagle rayConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
FrogfishFrogfishReported here · unconfirmed
BatfishBatfishConfirmed present · 4 independent sources
SeahorseSeahorseConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
SnapperSnapperConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
Durable tips from divers — access, hazards, marine life, facilities. For day-of conditions, use the report tool in the conditions card above.
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