Rising Sun Dive Center

★ 5 · Troi Baxter · 2009-07-27

The diving here was simply amazing! The conditions were great with 15m visibility and a temperature of 29 degrees. There were plenty of staff on the boat to help with getting in the water and everything was already set up to dive!!!! When we did two drift dives, as we had to have two tanks, the change over and setting up was VERY quick and efficient, with snacks available in between them. It definitely lived up to the expectations. We saw blue spotted sting rays and a giant sting ray, turtles, a pod of dolphins swam VERY CLOSE!!, plenty of starfish, beautiful coral (shades of purples, blues and pinks that was in great condition), HUGE SCHOOLS of sargeant fish and nemo fish that swam around us! FANTASTIC! The staff knew so much about the aquatic life and conditions, so both times we went we saw the turtles and rays! If we wanted to know about a certain type of fish or coral, with no hesitation the staff would tell us about them in good depth. We did our Open Water PADI out there and they taught and explained everything fantastically! GREAT WITH CHILDREN! They were very patient and fun to be taught by. We did our Open water Dives 1-4 in the lagoon, (The water could not have been clearer) We dived at 6m here so we could practice the excercises we had been taught. As we enjoyed our PADI so much we took 2 drift dives which were SUPERB! The boat was big and held the 5 staff + the 6 of us doing the course + the divers who had passed their test and wanted to come out for another dive (and it still had more room) We thought xindawo and ciupis were great diving locations! The staff catered for a wide range of abilities and ages and the equipment was in good condition. The overall experience was amazing and i recommend it highly!

★ 5 · Mark Blatt · 2009-08-04

This is our second trip out too Zanzibar, we ffirst visited in 2005, a beautiful island that is easy to get to with welcoming locals, including the monkeys. Both times we dived with Rising Sun, and both times not left wanting for anything more. We were never in a dive group of more than 4 on the most popular days and never saw more than 8 of us on the boat not including the minimum 2 dive masters/instructors. They use a huge mahogany wooden dow with 2 outboard motors, a nice change from a plasticy rib. The boatstaff were eager to carry our kit but I do like to carry and wash my own. The only disappointment was that I had to take my dive case back to my room. My kit was secured away safely in the dive centre but there was no room for my case. This was not a problem as the rooms are very close by and I am told that a larger store room was going to be built and is probably finished by now. I took my own kit but had to borrow a BCD for the first day as my inflator valve kept auto inflating on the first morning, it was good kit and would have used it all week quite happily. The owner of the shop took my BCD that evening and fitted one of his own valves from the dive shop kit which I used freely for the rest of the week. ( Now that is service!) Dive staff were very knowledgeable about the dive sites and wildlife, one of them even had a encyclopedic knowledge of all the nudibranch latin names. It helped that he was also very good at finding them. The boat split into two groups when it had less experienced, taking them to shallower parts of the dive sites leaving us to go to deeper areas. This did not detract from the life that was seen by both groups. The water is warm and we have had very good vis both trips. (Feb and July) Although I am told that it can dip a few metres in August. There is a lot of life there, dive sites mostly consist of both hard and soft coral, large barrel sponges and some sandy bottom. Zanzibar is a turtle hatching island so sightings are very frequent, I do not hesitate to say multiple sightings daily. We have also seen dolphins on both trips. Dive site regulars were the usual marine life, nudibranch, octopi, morays, blue spotted rays, titans, rass, lion and balls of schooling fish. What also makes it a special location for us is that it is all unspoilt, and with Rising Sun being the only dive centre on the Indian ocean coast we never (ever) saw another dive boat! If you go, after your dives in the morning, take the short afternoon trip to see the monkeys and maybe a spice plantation. I would also recomend getting up early on your last day to shop in Stone Town on the way to the airport, a good place to pick up gifts that were surprisingly not over-priced. We are planning to go again next year. Thanks Rising Sun, see you soon.

★ 2 · Marie Kenneth · 2009-07-27

We really don't like putting businesses down but sometimes you just have to. This dive centre is inside a fancy resort on the east coast of Zanzibar. We decided to head down for some smart rest time after a Kilimanjaro trek and maybe get in a few dives. The people at the dive centre were really nice and with such stunning views of the beach we were really looking forward to a day in the water. Next morning we went down to get our rental kit. It was horrible, all really old and in poor condition, strap on the BC was broken, mouthpiece on reg all chewed up. Had to start over and then got on the boat. The crew were smart-alecks and didn't make us feel comfortable - not the divemaster, he was fine. After all that we decided not to dive again. The rates here are really high, and we just didn't think it was worth it after all that. It seemed a great shame to us as the dives themselves were OK, but not worth the cost.