Dive Review of Kinasi lodge in
Africa/Tanzenia , Mafia Island

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Kinasi lodge, Jan, 2014, by ernest normington, PA, US ( 1 report). Report 7732.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	My wife and I traveled to kinsai lodge after a family safari on the Serengeti. We chose the kinsai based upon the recommendation of our safari tour company ( Thompsons safaris - highly recommended) and we were not disappointed. Travel to Mafia is a bit tricky as there are only two or three flights a day and they only go through Dar el Salam. We were limited to 30 lbs of baggage. kinsai is located in the marine park and was a short drive from the airport. We arrived on New Years Eve . The resort was lovely, we had a roomy hut with a view of the bay. kinsai has a nice pool, beach, and common areas. Food was included and it was excellent. Staff was friendly and were very helpful. While the resort is on the water the extreme tides allow limited boat access so usually diving involved a walk down the beach to the mafia island lodge where the bay was deep enough to moor the boats. The resort had two dives a day and the timing and location we're dictated by the tides. The resorts Russian English speaking dive master was new to mafia island, but there were always local dive masters which were excellent. diving was from small locally made sailboats (think panga) and I never saw an outboard over 15HP. As it is a marine park with limited fishing there was healthy fish numbers and the corals were in good condition. We saw one or two sharks each dive and numerous turtles. We dove for 4 days and on our last day we had a 4 pm flight so in the morning we went on a whale shark safari. Over 3 hours we saw a dozen whale sharks and we snorkeled with most of them. I swam with one whale shark for over 20 minutes and became so tired I had to get back in the boat. It was a great whale shark experience and everyone I spoke to at the resort had a similar experience, so New Years is a good time for whale sharks at mafia. This is very long trip from the USA but if you are on safari I would recommend Mafia and Kinasi lodge. The Kinasi seemed more upscale than the Mafia lodge but Mafia lodge was easier to the dive boats.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Multiple carribian, Mexico
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	We dove our own profile, just back go boat with 500 psi
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish	N/A
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	the boats were small sailboat pangas and I did not see camera facilities. No room for a camera table. The staff was very helpful and I am sure they would accommodate a photographer.

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Dive Review of Kinasi lodge in Africa/Tanzenia , Mafia Island

Kinasi lodge, Jan, 2014,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Kinasi lodge in
Africa/Tanzenia , Mafia Island