Advice: Tofo in January

[missnaomibird]

Hello

I am thinking of going to Tofo at the end of this month. i really want to see Whale sharks and Manta rays and am thinking this is a good time. If not i could leave it until later in the year.

I have a few questions:
accomodation - anyone recommend somewhere to stay? I am travelling by myself and want somewhere safe and secure

safety generally - i am wondering about whether it would be safe for instance to walk back to your accomodation at night after say having dinner out at a restuarant

time - anyone think Jan is a good / bad time to go with regards ot what i want to see?

anyhting else you think it might be good to know......

Many thanks in advance for any help - i will also contuinue looking through old posts....

Naomi

[cathm]

Hi,

I actually left Tofo on the 11th Jan after spending a week there, first time there. They've had unusual weather this year, with thermoclines on the deeper dive sites (had 18C or lower a couple of times, it's supposed to be 27C at this time). This has been associated with low vis and apparently fewer manta sightings, but still plenty of whale sharks. I only saw 2 mantas the whole trip, but often saw whale sharks going to and from the dive sites. On the dedicated "ocean safari", which all the centres do, I saw 8 whale sharks. I think they're fairly guaranteed at this time of year.

I dived with Tofo Scuba, and stayed at Casa Barry, which is the lodge associated with them. They're actually about 15 minutes walk apart down the beach, though they will pick you up. esp if you have dive gear with you, I usually walked. There's fairly limited accommodation in Tofo - a couple of fairly expensive places and a couple of backpackers, most of the rest is self-catering. I was travelling alone and felt very safe at Casa Barry, it felt secure. Thought it was rather expensive for what it offered and the food is overpriced; one issue is that staying there it's about 10 minutes walk down the beach to most other places you can eat. I walked down the beach on my own at night and wasn't worried but I'm not certain it's safe to do so.

Tofo Scuba are on Facebook - having read their most recent posts the vis is improving and they apparently saw 45 whale sharks on an ocean safari the other day, and the mantas are coming back, I would say go now if you can!

Catherine

[cathm]

Just to add - most of the dives were not that cold, deep dives were about 21C, shallower ones were about 34-26C, and I think the thermoclines are going now. It wasn't as bad as it sounds as the surface temp was 26C+ and the air temp about 30C+, and only the deep (therefore shorter) dvies were cold.

[dave martin]

Hi.
I am thinking of going to Tofo for a week or so in November and the intention would be to dive with Diversity and stay at the Hotel Tofo Mar. Has anyone got any views on any part of this plan? Is this part of Moz an more or less preferable to other parts?
Thanks.
Dave

[travel girl]

Hi Dave
Tofo is in the Inhambane area you also have Guinjata Bay and Barra in the same areas I enjoy staying at either Barra Lodge or Flamingo Bay in Barra and diving with Barra Diving or Guinjata Resort in Guinjata Bay they also have their own dive center I think Tofo is very overrated
Send me a mail I can help you with your booking or any advise you need on the area I spend about 6 month a year in Mozambique lorraine@toptravelafrica.com