The Chumbe coral reef is a protected sanctuary which is famous for its coral diversity, holding 90% of the coral diversity found in East Africa. About 200 species of hard corals have been recognized by coral taxonomist Prof. Veron from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences. These corals act like trees in a forest: they provide home, shelter and food for an impressive number of over 440 identified fish species.

With negligible fishing intrusion for so many years, our marine wildlife has become unconcerned about those few humans moving around and include for example:

·    Batfish that have developed the habit of following snorkelers at close range all along the reef
·    Lobsters peeping out from under corals, trying to investigate your presence with their long white feelers
·    Bluespotted stingrays, almost invisible when hiding under a thin layer of sand
·    Oscar, a potato grouper more than 1m in size, living in one of the caves at the drop off
·    Large, colourful parrotfish nibbling on algae overgrown corals with a very audible scratching sound
·    Hawksbill turtles resting and feeding in the reef