The Bali Resort, Zanzibar
Pingwe to Dongwe Road, Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Coordinates in degrees decimal: -06.17953333 N, 39.52779167 E.
Visited in February 2024. Photographer: Nigel and Sylviane Thomas. Cameras: Olympus Tough T6 and Nikon Coolpix W300.
Please note that the nearest resort to the beach is called the Sultan’s Palace but it appears to be closed currently (as of March 2024). The Bali Resort is the next closest, with access through the Sultan’s Palace, and is new (as of April, 2024).
Introduction
The Bali Resort is located about halfway between the villages of Dongwe and Pingwe, just off the main road. It is not directly on the beach but has easy access to an extensive length of brilliant white sand. It is possible to visit several locations from this resort but the best, by far, is off the beach in front of the Sultan’s Palace. Other locations are generally accessible by boat. The snorkelling area off the beach starts out very shallow, with much of the inshore comprising intertidal sand and rock. It is best to snorkel at, or around, low water. Follow the concrete path out across the intertidal area to avoid the numerous urchins. You will be able to find outcrops of coral immediately, which eventually form a coherent reef that extends over 250m. The outer edge of the reef drops down to about 8m depth, in the area adjacent Dongwe Beach Restaurant (at the end of the jetty). The reef at this point is both shelving coral and vertical faces.
The Bali Resort is accessed via Zanzibar’s main airport, Abeid Amani Karume International Airport, which is about 1.5 hours away, on the west coast. The road system is currently being upgraded so transit time will be much reduced in the future.
Factors affecting snorkelling
The air temperature on Zanzibar is quite stable with average highs of 33C in February. Mean daily lows are around 25C in August. Rainfall is strongly seasonal with the wettest period between April and May, with another wet period occuring in November.
The weather and water conditions that might affect snorkelling include:
- Seawater temperatures are warm all year, with temperatures during the period December and May, exceeding 28C. Lows of 25.5C occur during August and September.
- The strongest winds occur in both January and the period May to July. Lightest winds blow in the periods March and November. Strongest winds rarely exceed 17 knots (32kph), with most winds below 12knots (22kph).
- The prevailing winds are from the SE/SSE, which is the direction the strongest winds arise from. Occasional strong winds can arise from the NE. The sites described here are all behind a barrier reef that is located off the east coast of the island, so are protected, to some extent, from the effects of the wind on the wave hight.
- The tidal range at the resort can be considerable, with low waters close to chart datum, i.e. 0m and high water in the region of +4m. This can result in a long walk over the intertidal area to get to the sea.
- The large tidal range can create some strong currents in the area, which has a narrow entrance through the reef in the south, creating periodically strong currents parallel to shore. Be aware of your safe exit point, as much of the intertidal is difficult to cross. Best time to snorkel is either side of low water.
- One of the sites can only be safely visited by boat (Blue Lagoon), and there will be many boats there at the same time. Vessels pass through the other areas and the boatmen are aware of the snorkelling activity, but be aware at all times. Jet skis are banned (but were occassionally noted!).
Our visit, unfortunately, coincided with a large tidal range and strong onshore wind, that disturbed the sediment considerably, resulting in reduced visibility.
Ecology
The habitats that can be observed while snorkelling in the area include: shallow water reef formations; shelving coral reef formations; vertical coral faces; small coral outcrops with coral debris between; clean shallow sands, frequently with many echinoderms; and healthy seagrass beds made up of multiple species.
The reefs in the area supported a good diversity of corals and fish species. A total number of 129 species were identified during our 10 day trip, including 36 fish species and 42 hard and soft coral species. Associated species such as echinoderms were varied (13 species), however, most other groups were present in low species numbers.
