Dive with whale sharks in Mozambique

Praia do Tofo is one of Mozambique's most spectacular secrets. Situated on the coast a few hundred miles from the capital Maputo and the border with South Africa, Tofo is a small, relaxed little beach town made up of around forty houses and a few hostels and hotels scattered along the beach.

Apart from the obvious draw of miles of empty white beaches, Tofo's main claim to fame is its world class dive sites and whale shark alley, a plankton rich corridor of water which attracts whale sharks all year round.

Despite its shark nametag, the whale shark is an extremely gentle giant which swims close to the surface of the water, meaning you do not need to be a diver to swim with them.

Various dive centres in Tofo such as TofoScuba and Diversity Scuba organise daily snorkelling trips with the whale sharks for about £15, where you are almost guaranteed to see them, sometimes in large groups.

The trips usually comprise of around ten people and last between one and two hours, and will probably be one of the most memorable moments of your life.

The guide, who is perched upon a high chair or ladder in the boat will spot the massive shadow of the whale shark and shout for everyone to jump in.

From then on you are pretty much on your own. Your eight or nine fellow comrades will immediately be nowhere to be seen and you will find yourself alone in a lot of deep water straining your eyes into the gloom to spot your first glimpse of the colossal fish.

Suddenly a table sized mouth appears in front of you, your heart leaps out of your body and you start back pedalling as fast as you can. After a brief panicked adrenalin rush, it swims by, leaving you to swim next to or above it at your leisure, as long as you can keep up with it that is.

The bus-sized giant is usually accompanied by a few smaller cleaner fish who feed from the parasites on the whale shark's skin, and if you are lucky and there are a few whale sharks to go round, you might find yourself swimming with one alone which is an amazing experience.

While on the trip you might also see turtles and dolphins, and in the winter months large groups of humpback whales migrate along the coast.

As well as whale sharks, the tiny village of Tofo has around 30 of the world's top dive sites, including the Manta Reef. Here hundreds of smaller fish clean the rays of their parasites at 'cleaning stations' so sightings of the huge rays are guaranteed.

There is so much to see that the dive companies usually offer it as a two tank dive and is only suitable for advanced divers, although if you are doing an advanced qualification then it can be done as part of your course.

Due to fast surface currents the site is reached by negative entry which involves a speedy head first descent. Although this can be a bit disorientating if you are used to something more gentle, it is well worth it.

There are plenty of places to stay in Tofo, ranging from the very cheap, to the mildly expensive, and it is probably best to book, especially in July and December during South African school holidays.

If you are short on funds and big on time you can drive to Tofo from Maputo in about eight hours, alternatively you can also endure a gruelling two day bus journey from Johannesburg.

However if you prefer not to spend 48 hours of your life battling the Mozambique public transport system, and you have cash to spare, you can get a connecting flight to the nearby town of Inhambane from Johannesburg in two hours.

One thing is certain though, however you get to Tofo, the likelihood is you will be staying far longer then you intended.

Francesca Elliott