Wrecks and reefs off Stone Town

A Victorian cable ship at 4–12 metres, and turtles at Bawe. A few kilometres off Stone Town, the Great Northern — a British cable-laying ship built in 1870 and sunk on New Year's Eve 1902 — lies at four to twelve metres, shallow enough for snorkellers to see. Bawe Island has a coral wall with cuttlefish, seahorses and batfish on one side and a long shallow reef with green and hawksbill turtles on the other. One Ocean's Stone Town centre runs reef, wreck and night dives; half-day snorkel trips to Bawe, Changuu (Prison Island) and the Nyange sandbank leave from the seafront. How to book: Dive with One Ocean, Stone Town (boats leave Kenyatta Road around 09:00, back by 13:30). Snorkel trips are sold widely along the seafront — ask about group size and gear before you pay.