Diving at the Voyager Beach, Mombasa

Buccaneer Diving is Kenya’s only PADI 5 Star IDC Centre and with a dive center at Voyager Beach open daily. It is recognized for its quality of training programs offered from complete beginner through to Instructor and beyond.  Owner Bruce Phillips is a PADI Course Director, which is the organizations’ highest rating, ensuring that the PADI courses run at Buccaneer Diving are of the highest quality.

                

Buccaneer Diving is deeply committed to keeping the Mombasa Marine Park pristine and since the early nineties, has been an active stakeholder, working closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Buccaneer Diving has been involved in diverse and interesting projects such as creating East Africa’s largest artificial reef, the MV Dania. At this point, we are working on creating a second artificial reef program.

Our commitment to keeping the ocean doesn’t stopped there. To ensure that the reefs are properly protected in the future, we have a school children’s education program, called School To The Sea, for the lesser-privileged children in Mombasa. The children enjoy a day out at sea and learn about the sea-life first-hand with the hope that they will be the future custodians of this wonderful underwater world. Twice a year, during the World Clean-up day and the Dive into Earth day, our staff takes part in the biannual underwater clean-ups. Our most artistic sea activity has been collecting flip-flops washed ashore to create a flip-flop whale used to build whale conservation awareness.

Diving

Most of our dive sites are reef dives where the top of the reef is at 8-9m and then gently slopes down to 18-20m. A wide variety of soft coral exists on the reef with an abundance of fish. Most of our dive sites are in the Mombasa Marine Park and Reserve and as such a $10 user fee (adults) is payable to the KWS.

Watch the sinking of MV Dania below.

We also have the dive site MV Dania, a wreck that was intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef in 2002. It lies on the seabed at 30m and only advanced divers are allowed to explore it. There are also several inside-the-reef dive sites ranging from 7 to 12m. In the rough season, April to September, half our dive sites are closed (only dive in the marine park). In the calm season, October to April, all the dive sites are open.

Buccaneer Dive Sites:

• Angies Place

Angies Place

Angies Place

• Mv Dania
• Bamburi Reef
• Bamburi Coral Gardens
• Kasa

Kasa

• Rain
• Mushroom
• Taa
• Mtwapa Drop        
• Birthday Reef

Adam at Birthday Reef

Birthday Reef

• Wall
• Shelly Corner
• Likoni
• Lucky Chance

Lucky Chance

The last few weeks have been good for diving. Striped dolphins, whale sharks, bat fish, manta rays and hawksbill turtle have been spotted. When booking your next Voyager holiday, make sure to include diving in your itinerary. Buccaneer Diving's instructions are offered daily at our Water Sports Centre.

Heritage Hotels (Kenya) manages the luxury cruiser in Nyali - Voyager Beach Resort, a ship themed-resort that 'sails the seven seas'.  The Voyager Beach Resort is one of a kind on the shores of the Indian Ocean, built in the style of the old forts that once guarded the sea front complete with white washed lookout turrets and cannons, fringed by a fascinating coral reef and sparkling blue waters, just waiting for you to dive in. Article courtesy Bruce Phillips, owner Buccaneer Diving Kenya. Pictures courtesy ©Adam Sanders and Heritage Hotels Library.