Possibly the Best House Reef Dive Ever?!

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Mike Procopakis, lodge manager at &Beyond Mnemba Island Lodge, recently took one of his guests Alex out for a refresher dive around Mnemba’s spectacular house reef. As they set out, they stumbled across a full-grown crocodile fish (almost 1 m in length!), followed closely by a bearded scorpion fish. As they meandered along, they saw a leaf fish alongside a very rare dwarf zebra lionfish and a skunk anemone fish. Moments later, they spotted the first of two giant frogfish, moving along the sand between two coral heads in search of a new resting spot. Happy with their dive, Mike and Alex were just about to call it a day, when they saw another two leaf fish and a marbled torpedo ray (often called an electric ray due to its ability to give a nasty electric shock to any unsuspecting predator). The torpedo ray moved out of its shelter under the reef, which is unusual behaviour for this nocturnal creature, and upon closer inspection they discovered a big blue spotted stingray moving in! As the divers turned around, they were lucky to spot the second giant frogfish, completely camouflaged against the reef. And as if that wasn’t enough, the icing on the cake came in the form of two seagrass ghost pipefish hiding under a ledge. Another couple of leaf fish and a bearded moray later, Mike and Alex surfaced, completely exhilarated. Not bad for a 42-minute dive to a maximum depth of 4.3 m!

Visit WILDwatch.com to read about other extraordinary sightings at &Beyond’s 46 lodges and camps in Africa and India.

Skunk Anemone Fish

Crocodile Fish

Seagrass Ghost Pipefish

Giant Frogfish

Bearded Moray

Zebra Lion Fish & Leaf Fish

Leaf Fish