A Land Where Sea Fans Lie

As daylight breaks over sleepy Bagamoyo’s coast, tired eyes open to greet a rare and glorious day for Sea Fan Dive. A break from weeks baring burdened clouds of mournful grey, we forge through crisp, foam waves, until the shore fades over the blue horizon. With the midday sun set high above, shimmering down upon our hearts, we anchor, and descend like soft, falling rain into an underwater tropical forest. Brimming with flattened, branches, several feet across, yet only an inch or two thick, we are in the land where sea fans lie. Anchored in sand, at mercy to the rolling worlds of wave and shell, we’re enveloped lured deeper into the magical underwater extravaganza. They sway in sync with the misty depths, and subliminally, maximize flow of the deep dark for food supply in Sea Fan Dive.

BOOM! I jump, and am shocked and confused, fish scurry to hide in jagged cracks and holes. Dynamite fishing bombs explode in the distance, while undersea worlds meet their grave. I gaze forlornly the silent wavering sea fan colony, perched against the reef, and with time so sweet it hurries away, I ascend and wonder how long they can survive a losing battle.

DIVE SPECS

March 10, 2014
20 Meters
8 Meters
Nwambakuni L’adroit, Bagamoyo – New Bagamoyo Beach Resort

EQUIPMENT USED

Reef Abundance
Reef Diversity
Fish Abundance
Fish Diversity
Fish Size
Unspoiled By Man
Reader Rating2 Votes
Positives
Stunning sea fans
Abundant coral formations
Lots of colorful tropical fish and pufferfish
Negatives
Low-visibility (seasonal)
Some dynamited areas
Not many large fish
3.2