Spend 10 days on the beautiful, sunny, and off-the-beaten-track island of Mafia, just off the coast of Tanzania. This slice of paradise is still relatively undeveloped and provides a great base to explore rural island life. Our main purpose on this expedition will be to collect data on Whale Sharks – gentle giants that grow up to 20 meters in length! – to contribute to monitoring and conservation efforts. To do this, you’ll be swimming in the water right by them – although you can also collect data from the boat if you don’t want to snorkel.

It’s hard to put into words how special this expedition is! The combination of the location, the activities, and spending time with these giants of the ocean creates a unique experience that you’ll cherish forever.

This is a hands-on conservation expedition. As well as directly contributing to research, we hope you will leave feeling enthused to protect our oceans following memorable close encounters with marine life and lectures where you can learn more about marine conservation.

Whale sharks are the largest fish on the planet. We know very little about these sharks as they spend most of their time in the deep sea, but experts think they may live as old as 100 years old. One thing we do know about the population is that they are decreasing due to various threats such as fishing and pollution. Scientists are working to gather information on whale sharks so that we can better understand their habits and behaviour.

Most days on expedition we will be out on the ocean in a traditional dhow boat looking for whale sharks. When we spot a shark, you and the team will enter the water and swim alongside them collecting as much data as we can – including trying to capture a photo of their unique spots (which acts as a thumbprint to identify individual sharks). Once this has been collected you are free to swim as many times with the sharks until you are tired…..we usually give up before they do!

When we swim with the whale sharks we will be snorkelling so no diving experience is necessary.

Being wild animals sightings are never guaranteed. We are there during peak migration season and our length of time on the island gives us a really good chance of sightings but, like with all animal sightings in the wild, you should come with the expectation that seeing them is not a given.

Throughout the week, there will be lectures and workshops on Whale Sharks, Corals and wider marine conservation issues.

As well as collecting data on Whale Sharks, we will also do beach cleans and have an opportunity to learn and practice how to monitor and collect data on corals.

PLEASE NOTE: There is a huge overfishing issue on the island, so we will only be serving vegetarian meals on the expedition and expect participants to be on board with this.

We are up early each day on the boats as the sharks are most active in the mornings. This means we have plenty of time in the afternoons to rest by the pool.

If you like to keep yourself busy though, there will be lots of activities on offer alongside our conservation work. You can look forward to personal goal-setting workshops and group activities. You can visit the famous island hippos, or wander the market buying fabrics to get tailored into a unique souvenir to take home.

We also spend 2 full days visiting the other side of the island and the protected Marine Park where we snorkel and visit a secret lagoon. We will visit the very special Chole Island…..in a typical year the island gets just 200 visitors! There are no cars, and we will be searching for hidden ruins and the world's largest bats – the Flying Foxes.

On our last night, you can look forward to a sunset cruise and BBQ on the beach. Our local boat team might try to persuade you to join them for a dance at the local ‘club’!!!

We will be staying at the beautiful and quiet Bustani Hotel which has been hired out exclusively for our group. You will get en suite private room with air-con (although we encourage you to utilise the sea breeze as much as possible to reduce our impact). All beds have mosquito nets. There is a private pool with loungers, bar and relaxation area on site. We will make the most of the warm weather and meals will be served outside.

Mafia is a poverty-stricken and cut-off Island so although we will be staying in comfort, you should prepare yourself for the realities of life there. Malaria and other diseases are present so you will need to check with your GP about preventative measures and vaccinations you will need.

Many of the islanders still live in mud huts with no running water and electricity. The local Tanzanians have are friendly and reserved nature and part of the enjoyment of Mafia is getting to know the locals and their way of life which is so different to ours.

We ensure that all our local teams are paid a fair and above average wage and that us being on the island contributes to the local economy. If you’d like to bring clothes, books or toys (please avoid plastic…the island is already overrun with too much of it!) we can arrange for these to be donated to the nearby schools or nurseries.

Most days we will start early – breakfast will be eaten on the boat (or can be arranged earlier if you’d like to line your stomach). Usually, we will be out looking for or swimming with the whale sharks until 12-2pm when we will return for lunch at our hotel. There will be snacks and water available on the boat.

The afternoons will be yours to relax and enjoy the island. Some days we will organise an optional beach clean, sessions or games. Other days we’ll recommend activities that you might like to do on the island.

Before dinner is a great time to go for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset. We will then have a meal together as a group followed by a workshop or conservation talk.