Pemba Island Diving: Day 3, slowly finding our way with the cameras

By this point, we had settled comfortably into our daily rhythm: early-morning coffee, followed by a light breakfast of pancakes, before preparing for the day’s diving.

Our first dive site of the morning was Deep Freeze, located on the south side of the channel separating Njao Island from Fundo Island. You don’t need to descend very deep to encounter an impressive variety of marine life.

After the challenges of the previous day, we were gradually improving our handling of the cameras. I had added 2 kg of weight to offset the buoyancy of my camera rig and was now diving with 5 kg total—despite forgoing a wetsuit. The water temperature remained steady and wonderfully comfortable at 28°C. Camera settings and focus continued to test us; many shots ended up out of focus, overexposed, or underexposed. Still, there was some progress compared to the day before, and I managed to capture several usable images. Liana, meanwhile, was gradually mastering her GoPro for video. At this rate, we might just have everything dialed in—right about the time we head home.

Our first encounter of the morning was an eel, carefully peeking out as we went past.

We met a school of pygmy sweepers in a swim-through.

Next up a Guineafowl pufferfish and a Black spotted pufferfish

For some reason, I remain fascinated by the Sailor’s eyeballs (bubble algae) which are some of the largest single celled organisms in the world.

I would not have seen the well camouflaged frogfish, had our dive guide not pointed it out to me.

A bright yellow nudibranch was unfortunately facing away from us, but still makes for a colourful picture

As we were heading towards the surface at the end of the dive, we encountered a large school of parrotfish. Watch the end of Liana’s video to see their mesmerising movements.

Watch the video in 4K if you can and also remember that you can click on any of the photos to see a full size version of it.

After our customary surface interval—spent relaxing on one of the island’s many small, pristine beaches—our second dive of the day took us to Mandela Wall.

This striking site, situated just outside the gap between Fundo Island and Njao Island, offered another captivating wall dive rich with healthy corals, vibrant marine life, and the characteristic clear waters of the region.

The remainder of the day passed in leisurely fashion. We lounged around the lodge, sorting through photos and videos from the morning’s dives while simply unwinding and enjoying the relaxed pace.

As we sipped our sundowners, Michael shared some excellent tips on underwater photography—advice we are eager to put into practice tomorrow.

Dinner was outstanding, featuring beautifully fresh fish as the main course. Afterward, we retired to our room early, resting up and recharging for another full day of diving ahead.