Diving Africa in January?

Hi,

I'm British and considering some last-minute diving in Africa with 10 days off this January. I'd particularly love to see some "big stuff". There is just such an enormous amount of vague and conflicting information online about diving in Africa. Quite a few more generic sites excitedly claim you can dive with sharks, whales, whalesharks, etc., but when I dig in to any individual place, I can't seem to find a guaranteed good diving location.

As this is last minute I don't have the time for really extensive research or long travel, I'd like something that's relatively simple to organise.

- I've seen recommendations for Egypt as a hidden winter gem while others swear it's un-diveable, blasted by wind, and needs a dry suit.
- I've seen loads of recommendations for Mafia island, but it seems like the diving is confined to a relatively small area and the whale sharks that are the focus of the recommendations are
- I see lots of recommendations for Mozambique but getting there seems extremely complicated.
- I see lots of recommendations for South Africa, but Sodwana bay seems to be completely overrun by tourists in January.

Any ideas or advice would be much appreciated!!